Fewer than 4% of agents price within 3% of sale price as underquoting persists across the capitals
New data analysis has exposed the extent of underquoting across Australian capital cities, with properties routinely selling well above their advertised price guides despite regulatory efforts to improve transparency.
Analysis of all published price guides for residential sales in the six months to April, compiled by property data app Homer, found that in capital cities, the typical above-guide sale exceeds the guide by 4–9%, whilst the typical below-guide sale falls short by only 3–5%.
Perth and Adelaide recorded the highest proportions of above-guide sales, at 76% and 73% respectively. The median above-guide sale in Perth settled $56,000 above the advertised ceiling; in Adelaide, the figure was $75,000.
Sydney recorded the largest dollar gap nationally. When a Sydney property sells above its guide, the median overshoot is $117,500 above the top of the advertised range. Brisbane followed at $100,000.
Melbourne was the only capital city where more properties sold below the guide (53%) than above (37%). Regional Victoria was more pronounced, with 71% of sales falling below the guide.
Average amount over the property price guide
Source: Homer
"Ultimately, it leads to buyers engaging with homes they were never realistically in the market for," said Henry Pedersen, chief executive of Homer. "It causes an enormous amount of wasted time, money and emotional investment, and stress within relationships, all that kind of stuff that goes on because you're chasing things that you can't afford."
Separate analysis by Guardian Australia in 2024 found underquoting — defined as any sale where the final price exceeds the highest pre-sale guide by more than 10% — was most common in Sydney (20% of sales) and Perth (18%), and least prevalent in Canberra, Hobart and Darwin.
Laws prohibiting deliberate underquoting exist in New South Wales and Victoria, though a sale above the price guide does not in itself constitute a breach.
Pedersen said it was "mind-boggling" that reserve prices could sit outside the advertised guide. "There's so much confusion in the market," he said.
"There are so many different signals buyers are getting. It's really hard for you to know who you can trust and who you can rely on and what data points are fair and transparent and which ones are just trying to drive inquiry to a property and then sell it 10%, 15%, 20% above that."
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