Is underquoting rife in the WA property market?

As seen in The West Real Estate

Broadly speaking, underquoting occurs when an agent deliberately advertises a property at a price below a reasonable estimate of its likely selling price. It is used to lure buyers and generate artificial interest and competition for a property. It is illegal in all property markets in Australia.

It’s of particular concern in east coast markets where auctions are the most common method of sale and has seen the Victorian and New South Wales governments strengthen their underquoting laws.

WA is experiencing an extremely strong property market. While agents do their due diligence and use recent comparative sales to help determine a listing price, the significant competition for property will often see a property sell for more - sometimes much more. REIWA’s research found that only 9.9 per cent of houses in Perth sold for less than the asking price in the December 2025 quarter. These conditions can give rise to concerns that underquoting is occurring.

When a property sells for more than the listing price, it does not mean that underquoting has taken place.

REIWA has examined the current extremely low level of discounting for houses in Perth, looking at the relationship between the proportion of properties being discounted, the size of these discounts, and days on market over time.

The analysis showed these measures move together and are strongly correlated, indicating they are outcomes of prevailing market conditions, such as strong buyer demand, limited supply and rapid sales, rather than evidence of deliberate underquoting.

In a fast-moving seller’s market, final sale prices exceeding initial expectations are a common and well-documented feature, even when pricing guidance is reasonable at the time of listing.

With new listings falling below long-term averages in the second half of 2025 and demand remaining strong, the median time to sell a house dropped to a record low of eight days in September and October and the proportion of vendors selling for less than the listing price declined over the year, dropping below 10 per cent at the end of 2025.

We can compare this to a buyer’s market, such as in 2019, when houses in Perth took nearly two months to sell and nearly 60 per cent of vendors discounted their price.

However, while current market dynamics will see around 90 per cent of houses sell at or over the listed price, I remind people that underquoting is illegal. REIWA does not condone illegal behaviour. If anyone has genuine evidence an agent has intentionally underquoted the price of a property, I would ask them to report the agent to Consumer Protection. 

Suzanne Brown
REIWA President