Last modified on Fri 28 May 2021 18.05 EDT
Every three or four weeks, the neighbours say, the scene is the same. It is a cold Saturday morning in Dulwich Hill in Sydneyâs inner west, and dozens of hopeful buyers have turned out for an auction. Itâs a two-bedroom house on a nice street, near the park. The price guide is $1.25m. The street is full, and every one is wary.
Michael and Tom, a young couple, are there â along with Michaelâs family for support. They say that house hunting is âhellâ.
âYou could write 20 pages on the young people [who canât get into the market],â Michaelâs mum tells Guardian Australia.
Fair Trading is promising to penalise real estate agents found underquoting in a new blitz campaign.
Some 14 fines were handed out on Saturday, totalling more than $21,000, with Fair Trading expected to begin showing up “on the ground” at auctions.
The single weekend worth of fines represent 60% of all fines issued last year, as the industry becomes increasingly concerned with underquoting.
Dodgy real estate agents run the risk of fines of up to $21,000 and forfeited commissions if they are caught as part of an industry-wide crackdown on underquoting.
As home buyers become increasingly frustrated by the hot property market, agents will face greater scrutiny from New South Wales Fair Trading on whether they are pricing properties accurately or deliberately low balling would-be buyers to increase interest.