New property laws relating to vendor bidding and price quoting by estate agents took effect on 1 February 2004. Amendments to the Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic) prohibit vendors (or persons acting on their behalf, including estate agents and auctioneers) from making undisclosed bids at public auctions of their land. An auctioneer can only accept vendor bids where auction conditions permit the making of vendor bids, and these conditions, together with any subsequent vendor bid, need to be fully disclosed at the auction. Full disclosure of vendor bidding extends to the publication of auction sales results.

Recent amendments to the Sale of Land Act also include the abolition of the $250,000 cap in relation to the cooling off provisions available to private property purchases. The right to “cool off” and pull out of a contract of sale is now available to all private sales regardless of the selling price. Note that the original exclusions to the cooling off provisions, namely those purchases made at public auctions, purchases of commercial, industrial or farming properties, purchases by bodies corporate, real estate agents or by persons having already sought legal advice, still apply.

Amendments aimed at more accurate quoting of property prices by estate agents are also now in force. Amendments to the Estate Agents Act 1980 (Vic) require estate agents to provide an estimated selling price to vendors prior to the signing of an agency agreement to sell their property. The estimated price can be expressed as a single figure or within a price range and, once provided, the estate agent cannot advertise the property at a lower figure than the estimate given.

These amendments aim to make the process of buying and selling real estate by public auction more transparent and consumer-friendly. Let’s hope they do.