When Confidential is not Confidential

Undisclosed sales overridden by Victoria’s underquoting laws

What is the right balance between an owners right to not disclose the sale price of their property and the public’s right to know what real values are for their area of interest? This can be debated and opinions will likely be quite subjective, depending on whether you are buying or selling. But the law trumps opinion.

Under the new Underquoting laws, the Victorian Solicitor-General has advised Consumer Affairs in Victoria that officially requested non-disclosure of sale prices can be disclosed to ensure compliance with the required provision of three comparable sales for any property listed for sale (where available). Whilst this data may therefore not be disclosed to the general public, it can be disclosed to agents for providing the necessary comparable sales evidence.

If you are a buyer, it pays to actually open up the compulsory Statement of Information published with every property published for sale on the internet. For one thing, it will lift the veil on what an agent thinks the value might be when there is no advertised price. Secondly, following this legal advice, you may obtain sale prices that the owner had requested be kept confidential. This new position has not fed out widely into the industry yet though, so may take a month or two to be applied. And it also relies on agents actually reporting their sales, which some don’t.