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Price in an online listing: what each state’s rules allow
Most of the price rules for an online property listing bind the estate agent who publishes it, and they are written state by state. In Victoria a listed price is a single figure or a range of up to 10%, with no ‘from’, ‘offers above’ or ‘+’; in NSW an agent may not use ‘offers over’ or a plus sign; and in Queensland an agent may not give a price guide for a property going to auction.
General information, not legal advice. Check the rules with Consumer Affairs Victoria, NSW Fair Trading or Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading; a solicitor or licensed conveyancer can say how they apply to a particular sale.
Under every rule, the same line
The national rule is short. The ACCC says: “Any statement that creates a false impression about goods and services can be breaking the law.”
Victoria writes the same idea into its property guidance and names both people who can break it: “It is illegal for a seller or agent to misrepresent a property in any way when advertising or marketing that property, whether verbally or in writing.” The rest of this page is the narrower part: what a listing may say about price.
What a listing may show about price, by state
Each row is that state’s own rule as its regulator states it. Most are duties of the agent who places the listing.
| State | What the listing may say about price |
|---|---|
| VIC |
A single figure or a range of up to 10%, with no qualifying words or symbols. For an auction or fixed-date sale held on or after 16 October 2026, the agent must also publish the seller’s reserve price at least 7 days before it. Not less than the agent’s estimated selling price, and not less than an asking or reserve price the seller has given the agent. If a higher offer is made and rejected, the advertised price has to be updated unless the client changes their mind. |
| NSW |
No ‘offers above’ or ‘offers over’ an amount, and no symbols or words that could underquote or obscure the estimated value, such as a plus sign after a price. When an agent expresses the estimated selling price as a range, the top can be no more than 10% above the bottom: $500,000 to $550,000 passes, $500,000 to $600,000 does not. A seller can tell the agent not to disclose the estimate; the agent then gives no price information in advertisements, in writing or verbally. |
| QLD |
For a property going to auction, the agent may not disclose a price guide, or a price they think will win, to anyone except a person acting for the seller. An agent may give potential bidders copies of the comparative market analysis only if the seller agrees in writing. |
| SA |
Agents may not promote a price lower than their estimated selling price or the seller’s acceptable selling price, whichever is higher. An agent’s advertisement shows the agent’s registration number, preceded by the letters ‘RLA’, beside the agent’s name or contact details. |
| WA |
Consumer Protection WA says it is illegal for an agent to advertise, or tell a buyer, a price below the seller’s asking price or the agent’s estimated selling price. |
| TAS |
The Property Agents Board says misrepresenting the price a property is expected to fetch, in advertising, marketing or talks with buyers, can be illegal. |
Queensland: the price only the search filter sees
Property websites sort listings into price brackets, which is awkward for a home with no published price. Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading allows an agent to give a price or range to an electronic listings provider so the property can be sorted into a search category, and says the provider may not show that price on its website. The agent may give the provider a price only if satisfied the provider will follow those requirements.
A Queensland regulation sets the words of the statement for such a listing:
“This property is being sold by auction or without a price and therefore a price guide can not be provided. The website may have filtered the property into a price bracket for website functionality purposes.”
Queensland legislation, prescribed statement for listing
NSW: rules announced for online advertisements
NSW Fair Trading says new laws on underquoting and prices in sale advertisements are expected to start towards the end of 2026; the start date has not been announced. None of the following is in force yet. Once it is, NSW Fair Trading says:
- Agents will put the property’s Statement of Information, or a web link to a copy, into its online advertisements, including those on social media, in apps and in emails.
- Agents will include a selling price or price range in the advertisements they arrange for residential property, online or otherwise.
- That requirement will not apply to a sign on or beside the property that shows it is on the market.
- Agents will update or remove an online advertisement within one business day to keep it compliant.
In Victoria, under rules that started on 1 October 2026, agents use the new Property Price Statement, which replaces the Statement of Information. Agents must publish it online for at least 18 months after the sale has gone unconditional.
When there is no agent
Almost every rule in the table is written for agents. The Victorian line on misrepresentation above is one that names the seller as well, so a private seller’s own listing is held to it. A private seller’s solicitor or conveyancer can say which other rules reach a listing the seller writes.
Consumer Protection WA describes a bogus buyer, said to be based overseas, who contacts a seller about the home they have listed. The seller sends back what looks like an overpayment of the deposit, and only then learns the deposit was reversed, because it used a stolen or fake card or never existed. WA’s plain point: in a real estate sale there should be no reason for a seller to pay money out on the buyer’s behalf.
More on scams that reach a sale is in payment redirection scams and the official checks.