Queensland price guide ban garners support, with claims debate is “blown out of proportion”

The proposed Queensland price guide ban is back on the radar, with a number of industry members speaking out in support of the legislation.

For those who are not aware of the potential changes, you can see the passage in the legislation that has caused the outcry in this article here.

Damian Hackett, CEO of Place Estate Agents, has said that banning the price guides will not make a significant change from what is currently in place, and will improve the professionalism of the real estate industry.

In fact, said Hackett, putting a price guide on an auction is contrary to its intended purpose – to let the market determine the final value of the property.

DEBATE POINT: Is putting a price guide on an auction contrary to its intended purpose?

“The notion of putting a price or a price range on a property going to auction is the reverse of what the process is trying to achieve,” he said.

Director of Place, and board director of the REIQ, Paul Curtain, said that many currently did not put price guides on auctions – which is the intention of the current legislation.

“The current legislation was designed to move away from price guides, but over time it has been interpreted differently – it confused people,” he said.

“If you read it a particular way it allows for a price guide to be advertised, as long as you have the vendor’s permission in writing and some agents were interpreting it in this way.”

Hackett continued by noting that vendors still do have the option of providing a price guide.

“A seller should absolutely have the right to put a price on their property, but in simple terms, if they want to do this then it should be taken to the market via a tender campaign, rather than an auction.”

DEBATE POINT: Vendors can still provide price guides by opting for private treaty sales

Unsurprisingly, this echoes official sentiments from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland's CEO, Anton Kardash, who said that other auctions go ahead without price guides.

"Art, horses and motor vehicles, to name but a few, are regularly auctioned without a fixed price or a price guide because that is the very nature of auctions. The market will decide on the day of auction what it is prepared to pay for that particular asset," he said.

"It should also be highlighted that if a seller wishes to market a property with a price or using a price guide, they may do so by instructing their agent to sell via the much more popular private treaty method."

Curtain said that the changes would “tidy up” ambiguity at present, and help with the policing of real estate agents in the way they represent pricing, which in the past led to a lot of misrepresentation and complaints from disadvantaged consumers.

DEBATE POINT: Currently there is ambiguity in the legislation that needs clearing up.

“Agents would lead a buyer to a property on which they’d underquoted by 10 to 20% and the buyer would go the expense of getting building inspections and the like and then on auction day would realise they weren’t even in the running for the property,” he said.

“Essentially banning auction price guides is designed entirely to safeguard consumers and ensure we don’t return to those dark ages of misrepresentation. Arguments for price guides to be allowed potentially takes us back to those days, and this is something we categorically do not want.”

In fact, Curtain also pointed to other states as perpetrators, again much like the REIQ’s stance.

“It is with great pride that Queensland can say that it has largely avoided claims of misleading and deceptive conduct in relation to property price guides. Unlike in some other states where such complaints are rife, Queensland has not been subject to constant complaints of such a nature and will continue to prevent any future issues with the passing of this legislation,” said Kardash.

It appears Curtain agrees with this.

DEBATE POINT: Other states are rife with underquoting, and they have price guides.

“Certainly in other states underquoting is a huge problem – it has almost become the norm in states like Victoria for a price to be quoted and the property to sell above that level, sometimes significantly above, and this is only disadvantageous to the consumer,” said Curtain.

Hackett said that Place applauded the Property Occupations Bill 2013, with much of the other changes resulting in the reduction of red tape, despite the “controversy” surrounding price guides.

“Most of the members of the REIQ are supportive of the Bill as a whole, as are the majority of real estate agents, and indeed even consumers,” he said.

“The only issue that has been blown out of proportion is the section clarifying the rules surrounding auction price guides, but overall people are excited about the changes as a whole.”

Meanwhile, managing director of RE/MAX Australia, Michael Davoren, has urged the Queensland government to “stick with their plan and legislate for there to be no price indicators… despite a small number of people publicly lobbying for the opposite.”

One person publicly speaking for the other side of the argument is McGrath Estate Agents’ John McGrath, who has taken out full page advertisements in Queensland newspapers to argue against the proposal.

"It does the people of Queensland a great disservice, in my opinion, to deny them such a fundamental right when it comes to the most important financial asset that any of us will ever own,” said McGrath.

"The banning of price guides will be a barrier to business for this great state. We should be open for business. Making it easy for others to research our property and invest in Queensland," he said.

However, despite the suggestion of a "small number" of people lobbying against the change, the REA and News Limited are also in opposition, and the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales also spoke out against the ban, suggesting that there is a heavy tide of opposition being faced. Notably, an online petition prompted by News Limited has achieved 1,918 signatures.

Davoren said that the reality in the industry is that the topic has been debated at length, and most accept the REIQ’s position on having no price guidance.

“While I accept that real estate practitioners and commentators from other jurisdictions can express an opinion on Queensland real estate, their own systems are far from perfect with cases of over quoting and underquoting regularly brought to public and legal attention,” said Davoren.

Despite this, it appears it’s uncertain how many agents actually are underpricing.

DEBATE POINT: Could providing reserve prices one week before auction be an alternative solution?

“A minority of agents are over quoting to the seller but then underpricing when going to the public – there is no transparency in that,” he said.

“The Bill proposes that an agent or auctioneer can provide a comparative market analysis in writing with the written consent of the seller and at the direct request of the buyer,” he said.

“We’ve invested so much already into making our real estate industry as transparent as possible; to encourage the use of price indicators is a backward step.”

He also said that, contrary to what some have been saying, the Bill will not stop buyers from using real estate portals to find properties in their price range, with any search parameter based on the property’s price range to be seen as a “search tool only” and not taken as the agent’s pricing guide or opinion.

Another solution to the underquoting issue has been suggested through the publishing of reserve prices a week out from the auction date. An online petition for this change in New South Wales is circulating, launched by buyer’s agent Patrick Bright, and has seen vocal support from SQM Research’s Louis Christopher. Bright has suggested to Property Observer that should the model be successful in New South Wales, other states may be interested to implement it.

Observer Terry Ryder, based in Queensland, has also been vocal on the issue of the Queensland price guide ban, telling those who dislike the ban that they can only blame themselves.