According to SMH Property, new Victorian government disclosure laws taking effect from October 1 require real estate agents to publicly disclose a property's sale price within seven days of sale, and keep that information available for at least 18 months. However, agents and industry figures quoted in the report say it remains unclear where consumers can find this data, particularly for off-market sales — a common practice for higher-priced homes. This transparency gap raises broader questions for buyers everywhere trying to assess comparable sales and market conditions, though the source article does not provide suburb-level clearance rate, median price, or days-on-market data for Sydney or any other city.
What the New Rules Actually Require
Under the changes, Victorian real estate agents must disclose the sale price of a home within seven days of a sale and make this information publicly available for at least 18 months following the sale, via a Property Price Statement replacing the previous Statement of Information. Sale prices will only need to be formally reported by agents to the director of Consumer Affairs Victoria from December 1, 2027. From October 16, all auctions must have the reserve price made public a week in advance. Agents who do not comply with underquoting laws risk a penalty of more than $48,842 and forfeiture of their commission.
Confusion Over Off-Market Sales
Industry figures quoted in the report disagree on how the rules apply to off-market sales. Buyer's agent David Morrell estimated about 90 per cent of sales valued at $5 million and above are already happening off-market, and argued the disclosure laws do not apply to these transactions. The state government, however, told the publication that sale-price disclosure rules will apply to all sales of residential property involving a real estate agent. Marshall White Group sales director John Bongiorno said of the uncertainty: "That's a good question — we will probably just publish a list of sales on our website," adding, "I think [the lack of clarity] sums up this whole government, who has no clarity on anything."
Why This Matters for Buyers and Sellers
Shadow consumer affairs spokeswoman Jade Benham said she had repeatedly asked the government to clarify whether off-market sales were covered by the disclosure laws but had received no answers, and argued the changes could push more sales "behind closed doors," undermining the transparency of the auction process. REIV chief executive Toby Balazs said the legislation does not govern how a property is advertised, only that the sale price must be made available once a contract is signed, though it remains unspecified which platform must host that information.
Background: What the Data Gap Means for Buyers
The transparency issue raised by SMH Property matters for any buyer trying to gauge whether an asking price reflects true market value. When clearance rate, days on market and comparable sale figures are hard to locate consistently, buyers — particularly those with less room for error — carry disproportionate risk. Understanding Days on Market — What It Tells You is one part of building that picture, even though no verified days-on-market figures for specific Sydney suburbs are available from this source.
Buyers should also factor in cooling-off protections given that campaign and decision windows vary by market and by state; the state-by-state rules outlined in guides on cooling-off periods remain relevant regardless of how quickly a given campaign runs. Broader comparative data across the national market is tracked through Australian property market data platforms that aggregate clearance and pricing figures across regions, though such suburb-specific figures are not confirmed in the SMH Property report referenced here.
What This Signals Near-Term
Until Victoria's new disclosure rules are clarified — particularly around off-market sales — buyers and sellers across the state will continue to lack a consistent, publicly accessible source for sale-price data. The broader lesson for any market, including Sydney's premium suburbs, is that until standardised, verifiable comparable-sales and days-on-market data is readily available, buyers should rely on agent-supplied figures and independent verification rather than assuming published guides or price expectations reflect actual market conditions.