Underquoting and the Statement of Information in Victoria

You find a listing at "$700,000 to $770,000", inspect it three times, line up your finance, and watch it sell at auction for $860,000. It is one of the most demoralising experiences in the Victorian market, and it has a name: underquoting. Victoria has had specific laws about advertised prices since 2017, and the centre of those laws is a one-page document called the Statement of Information. Knowing how to read it, and what it can and cannot promise you, changes how you plan around a price.

What is a Statement of Information?

A Statement of Information is a standard form a real estate agent must prepare for every residential property they list for sale in Victoria. It exists to make the advertised price accountable, by forcing the agent to show the evidence their price estimate is built on. It was introduced by Consumer Affairs Victoria in 2017 as the main tool for tackling underquoting under the Estate Agents Act 1980.

You are entitled to see it three ways: displayed at every open for inspection, included with the property's online advertising, and provided by the agent within 2 business days if you ask for it directly. A listing that shows a price but has no Statement of Information anywhere is an anomaly, given the statement is required.

What the Statement of Information must contain

Every Statement of Information carries three pieces of information, and each one is regulated:

• An indicative selling price. This is a single figure or a price range no wider than 10 per cent. It cannot be less than the agent's own estimated selling price, the seller's asking price, or any written offer the seller has already rejected as too low.
• Three comparable sales. The three most comparable properties sold recently, each with its address, date of sale, and sale price where available.
• A median price for the suburb. The median house or unit price for the suburb the property sits in.

The same 10 per cent rule governs the advertising itself. If a Victorian listing shows a price, it must be a single figure or a range of up to 10 per cent, and it cannot use qualifying words or symbols such as "from", "offers above", or a "+" sign. A listing advertised as "$800,000+" is not complying with the rules.

The three comparable sales, and their limits

The comparable sales are the most useful part of the document, because they are real transactions rather than an estimate. But the rules about which sales qualify are worth knowing, because they shape what you are looking at:

• In metropolitan Melbourne, the three comparable sales must be properties sold within the last 6 months and located within 2 kilometres of the property for sale.
• Outside metropolitan Melbourne, the window widens to properties sold within the last 18 months and within 5 kilometres.

Those wider regional limits exist because there are simply fewer recent sales to draw on in the country. It also means a regional comparable can be up to a year and a half old, in a market that may have moved a long way since, so the dates on the comparables carry as much information as the prices.

Why can the median price feel out of date?

Because the rules allow it to be. The median suburb price on a Statement of Information can cover a period of anywhere between 3 and 12 months, and it only has to be no more than 6 months old. In a fast-moving market a median drawn from a 12-month window ending several months ago can sit well below where the suburb is actually trading today, which is exactly why the median is context, not a valuation of the specific home in front of you.

What actually counts as underquoting?

Underquoting is not simply a property selling for more than its range. It is a specific, defined conduct. It is illegal for an agent to advertise or tell you a price that is less than any of the following: the seller's auction reserve or asking price, the agent's current estimated selling price, or a price in a written offer the seller has already rejected for being too low. If the agent's genuine estimate is $850,000, they cannot advertise "$750,000 to $820,000", regardless of what they hope will draw a crowd.

There is also an ongoing duty to keep the figure honest. If the agent's estimate rises during the campaign, or the seller knocks back a written offer, the agent must update the indicative selling price, and update online advertising within 1 business day. A range that never moves while offers are clearly being rejected is worth questioning.

So why do homes still sell far above the range?

Because a lawful, accurate range is a floor, not a ceiling, and a genuine estimate on the day it is written can be overtaken by a rising market or simply by competition. Two determined bidders at an auction can push a price well past any honest estimate, and nothing in the law caps what a buyer is allowed to pay. That is the hard truth for buyers: a compliant Statement of Information protects you from being deliberately lured with a fake-low number, but it cannot protect you from other people wanting the same house. This is one of the sharpest differences between buying at auction and buying by private treaty, where the asking price anchors the conversation more directly.

Can you rely on the indicative price range when setting your budget?

It sits at the bottom of a plausible band rather than forecasting the sale price. The numbers that ultimately shape a buyer's own budget are different ones: what a lender will actually advance, how a bank valuation might land, and the stamp duty and other costs stacked on top of the purchase price. The three comparable sales, and the most recent and most similar of them in particular, are what give the range its context. How much to offer for a specific property, and any limit on it, is a decision for the buyer and their own adviser, not something the Statement of Information sets.

What can you do if you suspect underquoting?

Suspected underquoting can be reported to Consumer Affairs Victoria, which enforces the underquoting rules and can investigate agents and issue penalties. A report is stronger with evidence attached, such as a screenshot of the advertised price and range, the Statement of Information, the date, and the eventual sale price. One property selling above its range is not proof of anything, but a pattern of listings from the same agent that consistently sell far beyond their quoted ranges is the kind of thing the regulator looks at.

None of this is a reason to distrust every agent. Most quote in good faith, and a well-run campaign with an honest Statement of Information is exactly how the system is meant to work. Reading the document properly just means you are planning around evidence and rules, rather than around a number chosen to get you in the door.

Sources

• Consumer Affairs Victoria, "Understanding property prices and underquoting for buyers": the Statement of Information's three required contents; the up-to-10-per-cent price range; the ban on qualifying words and symbols; the definition of underquoting; and the right to receive the statement at open inspections, online, or within 2 business days on request. https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/buying-and-selling-property/understanding-property-prices-and-underquoting-for-buyers
• Consumer Affairs Victoria, "Underquoting information for real estate agents": the comparable-sales rules (metropolitan Melbourne, within 2 kilometres and sold in the last 6 months; outside metropolitan Melbourne, within 5 kilometres and sold in the last 18 months); the median-price period (between 3 and 12 months, no more than 6 months old); and the duty to update advertising, including online within 1 business day. https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/licensing-and-registration/estate-agents/running-your-business/underquoting-information-for-real-estate-agents
• Estate Agents Act 1980 (Vic): the Act under which Victoria's underquoting and Statement of Information obligations are made and enforced.

Sources verified 18 August 2026. Price-advertising rules, distances, and time periods are set by regulation and can change; confirm the current requirements with Consumer Affairs Victoria before relying on them.