Property Price Guides Are Changing in NSW: The New Statement Buyers Will See Before Making an Offer

NSW residential property advertisements will be required to include a selling price or price range, supported by a new Statement of Information showing the evidence behind the estimate. Expected to commence later in 2026, the reforms will give Sydney buyers earlier access to comparable sales and pricing context.

Buyers should still examine the contract, property condition, strata records and renovation exposure before making an offer.

A property price guide has traditionally been one of the shortest pieces of information in a Sydney sales campaign and one of the most disputed. A number appears on a listing, buyers arrange finance and inspections around it, and the property may ultimately sell substantially above that level.

NSW is now moving towards a more structured disclosure model. Under the Property and Stock Agents Amendment (Underquoting and Other Agent Conduct) Act 2026, agents engaged to sell residential property will be required to prepare a Statement of Information.

The statement, or a link to it, will need to appear with online advertising and be displayed prominently at property inspections.

The legislation is commencing in stages. Stronger enforcement powers and several increased penalties began on 29 June 2026. The price-advertising and Statement of Information requirements are expected to commence later in 2026 after supporting regulations, prescribed requirements and the approved form have been prepared.

That timing distinction matters. The reforms have been enacted, but buyers should not assume every NSW listing must already carry the new statement. Until the later commencement date is announced, the existing underquoting framework continues to govern price representations.

The Statement Will Turn a Price Guide Into an Evidence Trail

The most consequential change is not the appearance of another document. It is the connection the legislation creates between the advertised price and the evidence used to calculate it.

NSW Fair Trading says agents will be required to consider the sold prices of comparable properties in accordance with prescribed requirements when setting or revising the estimated selling price. They will also be required to retain records relating to that calculation.

The Statement of Information must use an approved NSW Fair Trading form and contain information relevant to the property, including the comparable sales selected by the agent.

The NSW Government has also indicated that the disclosure model is intended to provide suburb-level price context, although the final form and detailed requirements had not been published at the time of writing.

This means the statement should not be treated as a marketing flyer. It will form part of the pricing governance of the campaign.

Advertised selling price

Expected requirement: A price or price range must appear in residential sale advertising arranged by the agent, subject to limited exemptions.

Practical relevance for buyers: Buyers should be able to identify whether the property is broadly within budget before committing to inspections and reports.

Statement of Information

Expected requirement: The agent must prepare the approved statement for the residential property.

Practical relevance for buyers: Buyers receive a documented explanation of the pricing evidence rather than relying only on a verbal guide.

Comparable properties

Expected requirement: The statement will identify comparable sales selected by the agent.

Practical relevance for buyers: Buyers can assess whether the comparisons genuinely resemble the property being offered.

Online access

Expected requirement: The statement, or a link to it, must accompany online, application, social media, email and other electronic advertising.

Practical relevance for buyers: The pricing evidence should be available earlier in the decision process, not only after direct contact with the agent.

Inspection display

Expected requirement: The statement must be displayed prominently at inspections.

Practical relevance for buyers: Buyers can review the evidence while assessing the physical property.

Requested copy

Expected requirement: A prospective buyer requesting the statement or the contract must receive the statement within two business days.

Practical relevance for buyers: The buyer can place pricing evidence beside the contract and due-diligence material before offering.

Campaign updates

Expected requirement: Non-compliant online advertising must be updated or removed within one business day.

Practical relevance for buyers: Buyers should check the current listing again before relying on a price saved earlier in the campaign.

A Price Guide Is Still Not a Valuation or a Promise

The new statement should improve visibility, but it will not convert an estimated selling price into a guaranteed sale price.

Residential property remains an imperfect comparison exercise, particularly in Sydney neighbourhoods where adjoining properties may differ substantially in land, orientation, renovation quality, planning potential, strata condition or outlook.

Competitive bidding can also produce a result that was not reasonably predictable when the campaign began. A sale above the guide will not automatically establish that underquoting occurred.

The legal question will remain whether the estimate was reasonable when made, whether relevant evidence was considered and whether the price was revised when new information emerged.

For buyers, the correct interpretation is therefore:

• The advertised price is the agent’s current representation of the likely selling price
• The Statement of Information explains part of the evidence supporting that representation
• The statement does not establish the property’s independent market value
• The final price may change because of competition or new campaign evidence
• The buyer remains responsible for deciding what the property is worth to them

The Comparable Sales Will Need to Survive Closer Scrutiny

The usefulness of the new statement will depend heavily on the quality of the comparable sales. Three nearby transactions are not necessarily three meaningful comparisons.

Consider a two-bedroom apartment in an older Sydney strata building. A sale in the same suburb may appear relevant but become less persuasive when the underlying differences are examined:

• One property has secure parking and the other does not
• One building has recently completed major remedial works
• One apartment has an approved renovation and upgraded flooring
• One lot faces a main road while the other faces a quiet courtyard
• One owners corporation has substantial capital works funds
• One sale occurred before a special levy was announced
• One property was vacant and renovated while the other was tenanted and dated

Similar problems arise with freestanding houses. Land size, frontage, easements, heritage controls, flood exposure, redevelopment potential, building condition and school-catchment boundaries can separate apparently similar properties by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A buyer reviewing the statement should not ask only whether the comparable sale is nearby. The stronger question is whether the sale shares the characteristics that are driving the value of the property now being offered.

The Price Document Will Move During the Campaign

The reforms treat pricing as a continuing process rather than a number fixed on listing day. That will change how buyers should organise their due diligence.

1. At launch: The agent establishes an estimated selling price, selects the required comparable evidence and prepares the Statement of Information.
2. During inspections: Buyer feedback, competition, property reports and new comparable sales may provide additional pricing evidence.
3. During negotiations: A rejected written offer may create a new minimum level below which the property can no longer be advertised.
4. After a passed-in auction: The highest unsuccessful registered bid may become another price floor for subsequent advertising.
5. After the estimate changes: Affected online advertising must be corrected or removed within one business day.

A statement downloaded during the first week of a campaign may therefore be overtaken by later events. Buyers preparing to offer should obtain the current version rather than relying on a screenshot, saved portal page or early email.

A Rejected Offer Can Change the Public Price

One of the reforms’ most practical consequences concerns written offers rejected because the amount was too low.

An agent will not be permitted to advertise or represent a selling price below a written offer that the agent knows, or ought reasonably to know, was rejected by the seller solely because the amount was insufficient.

Where the advertised price is a range, its lower figure cannot sit below that rejected amount.

The word solely is important. An offer may be rejected because of finance conditions, a lengthy settlement, a reduced deposit, requested inclusions, building-work conditions or another contractual issue.

Such an offer is not necessarily evidence that the seller would have accepted the amount on cleaner terms.

This distinction will make written offer records more important. Buyers should state the price, deposit, settlement period, finance position and requested conditions clearly. Sellers and agents will need records showing why an offer was declined.

Buyers considering conditions or repairs can review how repair requests and contract changes can be negotiated before exchange. The offer amount cannot be separated from the legal and practical terms attached to it.

A Passed-In Auction Will Create a New Advertising Boundary

Where a property is passed in at auction, the post-auction campaign will also be affected.

The agent will be prohibited from advertising below the highest bid that the agent knows, or ought reasonably to know, was made by a registered bidder.

That does not mean the seller must accept the highest bid or adopt it as the reserve. It means the market cannot be invited back through advertising that suggests the property may sell below the level already demonstrated at the auction.

The operational sequence after a passed-in auction may therefore involve:

• Recording the highest registered bid accurately
• Reviewing the estimated selling price
• Updating the Statement of Information where required
• Changing online portal, agency website and social media pricing
• Aligning post-auction discussions with the revised public information
• Ensuring contract and deposit arrangements are ready for a same-day or later private treaty exchange

Buyers negotiating after an auction should also understand what to check before making a same-day offer on a passed-in NSW property.

The Statement Will Not Replace Property Due Diligence

The document is concerned with pricing information. It will not tell a buyer whether the building is sound, the renovation is approved or the apartment will be expensive to alter after settlement.

Depending on the property, matters outside the price statement may include:

• Title restrictions, easements and covenants
• Strata by-laws, meeting minutes and special levies
• Building defects and remedial-work programmes
• Planning certificates and zoning constraints
• Unapproved building or renovation work
• Termite, moisture or structural findings
• Fixtures and inclusions recorded in the contract
• Tenancy arrangements and vacant-possession requirements
• Finance, valuation and settlement conditions
• The cost of repairing or renovating the property after purchase

A buyer should therefore place the Statement of Information alongside the contract, inspection reports, finance position and intended property works.

Elyment’s Sydney conveyancing support assists buyers and sellers with contract checks, disclosure review and transaction coordination before exchange and settlement.

Renovation Condition Can Make a Comparable Sale Misleading

Physical condition is one of the areas where a short comparable-sales description may fail to explain a material price difference.

A recently renovated apartment may have new visible flooring while retaining old adhesive, uneven screed, moisture exposure or non-compliant acoustic details beneath it.

Another apartment may look dated but have a sound slab, approved alterations and a well-funded owners corporation.

For a buyer planning immediate works, a comparable sale should be tested against the likely project sequence:

1. Existing-floor removal and disposal
2. Adhesive or magnesite assessment
3. Concrete grinding and surface preparation
4. Moisture and substrate inspection
5. Floor levelling or repair
6. Strata and acoustic-underlay requirements
7. New flooring or coating installation
8. Painting, skirting, thresholds and final handover

Two properties with similar sale prices can carry very different post-settlement capital requirements.

The Statement of Information may help a buyer understand where the guide came from, but it cannot calculate the buyer’s future project budget.

What Sydney Buyers Should Do Before Making an Offer

Once the later-stage reforms commence, buyers should use the new statement as the starting point for analysis rather than the conclusion.

1. Confirm that the statement is current. Check whether the advertised price, issue date and comparable evidence have changed during the campaign.
2. Examine each comparable sale. Compare land, building type, parking, aspect, condition, strata position, renovation quality and transaction date.
3. Research sales outside the agent’s selected examples. The statement will show the agent’s evidence, but buyers should still conduct independent market research.
4. Request the sale contract early. Have a solicitor or licensed conveyancer review the contract before committing to auction bidding, a reduced cooling-off period or an unconditional offer.
5. Separate property value from buyer-specific cost. Include stamp duty, finance, strata liabilities, repairs and renovation works in the affordability assessment.
6. Write the offer terms clearly. Record the amount, deposit, settlement period, conditions and inclusions so the basis of any rejection is not ambiguous.
7. Recheck the listing before increasing the offer. A rejected offer, passed-in bid or revised estimate may have changed the public pricing position.

Buyers intending to bid at auction should complete the NSW auction contract review and negotiation process before bidding, because an improved price statement does not create a cooling-off period after an auction purchase.

Agencies Will Need More Than a New PDF Template

For real estate businesses, compliance will depend on workflow design.

The statement must be created, approved, distributed, displayed and revised consistently across every channel carrying the listing.

Appraisal and listing

Operational control required: Document comparable evidence and establish a defensible estimated selling price.

Failure risk: The campaign begins with an unsupported or unreasonable estimate.

Statement preparation

Operational control required: Use the approved form and complete all prescribed information accurately.

Failure risk: Incomplete or non-compliant buyer disclosure.

Advertising launch

Operational control required: Publish a compliant price and attach the statement or functioning link across digital channels.

Failure risk: Different platforms present inconsistent information.

Open inspection

Operational control required: Display the current statement prominently and make copies accessible.

Failure risk: Buyers inspect without receiving the required pricing evidence.

Offer management

Operational control required: Record written offers, their conditions and the seller’s reason for rejection.

Failure risk: The agency cannot establish whether a rejected offer created a new advertising floor.

Auction outcome

Operational control required: Record the highest registered bid and communicate the outcome to the campaign team.

Failure risk: Post-auction advertising appears below the lawful minimum.

Price revision

Operational control required: Update online advertisements within one business day and other material as soon as practicable.

Failure risk: Outdated guides continue circulating after the estimate changes.

Portal feeds, agency websites, email campaigns, social media posts and buyer-database messages may all need to change from one controlled source.

A handwritten instruction or verbal direction will be unreliable where multiple staff members and advertising systems are involved.

What Remains to Be Finalised

At the time of writing, NSW Fair Trading had confirmed that the remaining reforms were expected to commence towards the end of 2026, but the final commencement date had not been announced.

Supporting regulations and the approved Statement of Information form were also still being prepared.

Those materials will determine important implementation details, including the precise comparable-sales requirements, document fields and any limited advertising exemptions.

Buyers, sellers and agencies should therefore distinguish between the Act’s enacted framework and the practical requirements that will apply when the second stage begins.

The NSW Fair Trading property and stock agent law update should be checked for the commencement date and final implementation material.

Review the pricing evidence and the property obligations before making the offer.

Coordinate contract review, disclosure checks, strata considerations, renovation exposure, settlement timing and project-delivery requirements before committing to a Sydney property.

Request a Property Project Review

More Disclosure Will Help, but Buyers Still Need Judgement

The Statement of Information should make the pricing process easier to inspect.

Buyers will be able to see the agent’s selected evidence, identify the advertised range earlier and detect when the campaign price changes.

Its real value, however, will depend on how the information is used. A comparable sale must still be tested. A contract must still be reviewed. Strata, building, finance and renovation risks must still be investigated. An offer must still reflect the buyer’s own capacity and the property’s actual obligations.

NSW is moving from a market in which the price guide could appear as an isolated marketing number towards one in which the number must be accompanied by an evidence document and maintained as the campaign develops.

For Sydney buyers, that is a meaningful improvement in visibility. It is not a substitute for independent property judgement.

Sources and Further Reading

• NSW Legislation: Property and Stock Agents Amendment (Underquoting and Other Agent Conduct) Act 2026
• NSW Fair Trading: Changes to property and stock agents laws

Editorial note: This article provides general information about enacted NSW reforms and their expected operation. It is not legal, valuation, financial or property-investment advice. Commencement dates, approved forms and supporting regulations should be confirmed before relying on the new requirements.