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https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/home-buyers-still-being-misled-by-underquoting-despite-falling-prices-20220906-p5bfv7.html

Home buyers still being misled by underquoting, despite falling prices
By Kate Burke
September 8, 2022 — 12.00am

KEY POINTS
Complaints about underquoting have declined in the cooling property market.
However, the proportion of fines resulting from those complaints has increased.
More homes are selling in range of advertised guides as prices fall, but industry figures warn deliberate underquoting is still occurring.
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The days of homes for sale routinely soaring above price guides may be over, but buyers are still wasting time and money on properties they cannot afford as illegal underquoting continues.

NSW Fair Trading received 51 underquoting related complaints in the first six months of this year, and issued 40 penalties totalling $88,000. That resulted in a total of 133 complaints and 96 fines last financial year.

Fewer homes may be soaring well above price guides, but underquoting is still occurring, industry figures warn.
Fewer homes may be soaring well above price guides, but underquoting is still occurring, industry figures warn.CREDIT:FLAVIO BRANCALEONE

By comparison, there were 200 complaints and 55 fines over the 2020-21 financial year.

Complaints have fallen across the state amid the declining property market as reduced buyer demand sees more homes sell closer to and even below advertised prices, however, buying experts warn deliberate underquoting is still a concern and the figures show the proportion of fines to complaints has increased.

Underquoting occurs when an agent advertises a price guide below the reasonable estimated price they provide in their agreement with the sellers. The estimate can be a single price or in a 10 per cent range, and must be based on factors like recent comparable sales and market conditions.

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Sydney buyer’s agent Paul Mulligan, of Mulligan Property Acquisitions, said underquoting was still occurring at a similar rate, wasting the time and money of prospective buyers.

“You have people looking at $3 million properties on a $2 million or so budget, through no fault of their own. They’re spending money on building and pest inspections for a home they were never really in the running for,” he said.

Mulligan said unique or prestige homes could soar above expectations occasionally, but standard properties should not be selling hundreds of thousands of dollars above guides.

Home buyers still being misled by underquoting, despite falling prices The days of homes routinely soaring above price guides may be over, but underquoting is still wasting the time and money of house hunters.

Another double rate hike coming but the Reserve Bank may soon slam brakes on again
by business editor Ian Verrender
Posted Yesterday at 4:48am, updated Yesterday at 10:53am

Prepare yourself for another hit.
When the Reserve Bank heavyweights gather around the board table in Martin Place tomorrow, the question will not be about whether to raise rates, but by how much.
The consensus is that we will be whacked with a fourth successive double hike although some forecasters, such as Saul Eslake, believe the RBA this month will begin to moderate the rises, scaling them back to 0.25 percentage point hikes.
Having arrived at the rate hike party unfashionably late, the Reserve Bank is increasingly coming under pressure from outside forces to maintain the momentum, particularly since US Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell declared his intention just over a week ago to continue the fight against inflation.

Reserve Bank of Australia hikes interest rates for a fourth consecutive month

By Stuart Marsh • Senior Producer
3:35pm Aug 2, 2022


Fullscreen
RBA increases cash rate by 50 basis points per cent to 1.85 per cent

The Reserve Bank of Australia has hiked interest rates for the fourth consecutive month, lifting the nation's cash rate target by 50 basis points to 1.85 per cent.
Today's increase marks the first time since the introduction of inflation targets in 1990 that the central bank has increased the cash rate four months in a row.
For the average borrower with a $500,000 loan and 25 years remaining, this afternoons' increase will result in a $140 a month increase - or $472 since the RBA began lifting rates in May 2022.
READ MORE: 'Historic' interest rate hike tipped to hit mortgage holders

https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-interest-rates-reserve-bank-of-australia-august-decision/4b9f7743-0fec-4856-a563-26c6b8a56a40

This might be first-home buyers’ best chance to crack the market in years “You don’t have to get everything all at once in your first home. Use it as a steppingstone into upgrading as your circumstances and budget change.
“I encourage first-home buyers to exercise caution as to how much pressure they put themselves under financially when buying their first home.”
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/this-might-be-first-home-buyers-best-chance-to-crack-the-market-in-years/?fbclid=IwAR1MqzlRqGwlEXGMLdE1R9wDaAGj-6Xl6VEvLRenZhWuGRB0mxpi-qJWUG0