Offers & auctions
Private-sale offers, conditions, deposits, auction rules, vendor and dummy bids, passed-in properties, underquoting, the Property Price Statement and published reserves behind the Making an Offer and Buying at Auction hub. Every figure is drawn from this graph of claims, each traced to a specific, actually-fetched government or regulator source. This page is generated directly from that graph, not maintained separately from it. See the full knowledge base for other subjects.
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Source catalogue (13 sources)
Every source in this subject, grouped by issuing authority.
Access Canberra
Consumer Affairs Victoria
Consumer Protection WA (Dept of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety)
Consumer and Business Services, South Australia
NSW Government
Northern Territory Government
Office of Fair Trading Queensland
Parliament of Victoria
Active claims (60)
Every claim in this subject currently powering a guide, with its confidence and last verification date.
Access Canberra's buyer and seller guide says all potential bidders at an ACT auction must register before bidding and are given a bidder number only on presenting proof of identity on the day; registering does not oblige you to bid. If the seller's reserve is not met, the property may be 'passed in' or withdrawn, and the seller must first negotiate with the highest bidder. A successful bidder must immediately sign the contract and pay a deposit.
Access Canberra's buyer and seller guide says the ACT cooling-off period does not apply to a property bought on the same day as a public auction at which it was passed in, where the buyer was a registered bidder.
Agents may advertise a single price or a range of up to 10%, must not use qualifying words or symbols such as 'offers above', 'from' or '+', and must not advertise below the estimated selling price, the seller's asking price, or a written offer the seller has already rejected. Online advertising must be updated within 1 business day of a relevant price change.
Before bidding starts, the auctioneer must tell bidders that bids will not be accepted after the fall of the hammer, that bidders will be identified on request, that false bidding or disrupting an auction is illegal, and whether vendor or co-owner bids will occur.
An auctioneer may refuse a bid at any time, including during the fall of the hammer, resume bidding at the last undisputed bid or restart it after a disputed bid, refer a bid to the seller at any time before the auction concludes, or withdraw the property from sale at any time.
The auctioneer sets the amount by which bids increase (called 'rises' or 'bidding advances'); a bidder may offer an alternative amount, but it is up to the auctioneer whether to accept it.
When a property is jointly owned, one or more genuinely interested co-owners may bid themselves or through a representative from the crowd, but not through the auctioneer.
Victorian law sets no required auction deposit amount, but it is usually 10% of the purchase price. A buyer who pays less than they were prepared to for the winning bid will find their prepared deposit is more than 10% of the actual sale price.
A post-auction deposit must be held in trust by the seller's estate agent, conveyancer or legal practitioner until settlement, and can only be released to the seller before settlement if the buyer agrees. A seller without an agent must deposit it with their own legal practitioner/conveyancer or into a special purpose account held in both parties' names.
Dummy bidding — a false bid invented by the auctioneer, or a bid accepted from a non-genuine bidder to influence the sale price — is illegal and attracts significant penalties. An auctioneer must not knowingly accept a bid made by or for the seller outside the vendor-bid rules, or falsely acknowledge a bid that was never made.
A buyer cannot make an auction contract subject to further conditions — such as obtaining finance or a longer settlement period — unless the seller agrees to them.
There is no cooling-off period for a property bought at auction in Victoria. If a pre-auction offer is accepted less than three clear business days before the scheduled auction, the buyer also forfeits the cooling-off period.
'On the market' means the auctioneer has confirmed with the seller that the property will sell to the highest bidder, after bidding has reached or is close to the reserve price. Before that point the auctioneer may pause the auction to seek the seller's instructions.
If bidding does not meet the seller's reserve, the property is 'passed in'. The highest bidder then gets first right to negotiate a price with the seller; if they cannot agree, the agent may approach another bidder, and if no buyer agrees a price the property may go to private sale. If the agent later advertises at the passed-in amount, they must disclose whether it was a vendor bid.
There is no legally binding contract at auction until both buyer and seller have signed the contract of sale in the same terms as displayed before bidding; a successful bidder cannot add further conditions (such as finance or a longer settlement) unless the seller agrees, and there is no cooling-off period once the contract and deposit are in place.
The auction rules and the auction information statement setting out Victoria's auction laws must be displayed at the auction location for at least 30 minutes before the auction starts.
A vendor bid is made on behalf of the seller when the seller is not satisfied with the last bid. It can only be made by the auctioneer and must be announced when made; vendor and co-owner bid arrangements must be set out in the auction rules displayed before the auction and announced by the auctioneer at its start.
To count as comparable for underquoting purposes, a property must be of similar standard or condition to the property for sale and, in the Melbourne metropolitan area, sold in the last 6 months within 2km — or outside metro Melbourne, sold in the last 18 months within 5km.
Under Victoria's reformed underquoting rules, an agent must take into account the 3 most comparable properties when setting the estimated selling price. If only 1 or 2 comparable properties sold in the relevant period, the agent must use and list those; the definition of a comparable property (similar standard or condition, within 2km and 6 months in metropolitan Melbourne, or 5km and 18 months elsewhere) is unchanged.
From 1 July 2027, Victoria's existing process for early release of a deposit is repealed: sellers and buyers can instead agree to early release by including a condition in the contract. From the same date an agent must not take commission directly from a deposit released before settlement or rescission of the contract.
Sellers, or the estate agent acting for them, must make Consumer Affairs Victoria's due diligence checklist available to prospective buyers at open-for-inspections.
An agent's estimated selling price must be reasonable and take into account the sale prices of the 3 properties the agent considers most comparable. If it later ceases to be reasonable, the agent must inform the seller in writing and update the sales authority and advertising.
The new Property Price Statement and reserve-price requirements apply to auctions and fixed-date sales held on or after 16 October 2026; agents must update existing listings for properties going to auction from that date. Until then the Statement of Information rules continue to apply.
Agents must pass on all verbal and written offers to the seller unless the seller has instructed them otherwise in writing. If instructed not to submit pre-auction offers to the seller, the agent must tell prospective buyers that their offer will not be submitted.
An advertised or estimated price is a guide only and can change while a property is on the market. A property selling for more than its advertised price does not necessarily mean underquoting occurred — competing buyers bidding against each other can also push the price up.
A private-sale buyer can negotiate conditions such as loan approval ('subject to finance', naming the lender), the sale of an existing property, or a satisfactory building or pest inspection. An auction buyer cannot add such conditions without the seller's agreement.
A private-sale contract of sale should state the property and party details, the offered price, the deposit amount, the balance owing at settlement, the agreed settlement period, any conditions, and the items included in the sale — an item left off the contract can be hard to claim ownership of at settlement.
A private-sale deposit is held in trust by the agent or the parties' conveyancer/legal practitioner until settlement. It can only be released to the seller before settlement if the contract is unconditional, the buyer is satisfied with the proof-of-debts information provided, and not until 28 days after the contract was signed.
GST applies to the purchase of new homes but not established homes, unless the seller is GST-registered; the contract must state clearly whether the price includes or excludes GST.
In an agent-managed private sale, a buyer makes an offer by signing the contract of sale, which the agent takes to the seller unless instructed not to. Consumer Affairs Victoria recommends writing an expiry date for the offer into the contract so the buyer knows by when the seller must have accepted it.
Private-sale negotiation can involve verbal offers (only a written offer can lead to a binding contract), more than one buyer making an offer, and agreement on a settlement period (commonly 30–90 days) and which items are included in or excluded from the sale.
From 1 October 2026 the Property Price Statement replaces Victoria's Statement of Information. It keeps the Statement of Information's existing requirements and adds the key features of the property and of each comparable property: building type, bedrooms, bathrooms, car spaces, internal floor area and land size in square metres. Online, it must be shown or linked on the first visible part of the listing, next to the advertised price; a physical advertisement with property details must carry a web address or QR code linking to it.
If a seller rejects a written offer because it is too low, the agent must update the indicative selling price and any advertised price that is lower than the rejected offer — but not if the offer was rejected for a different reason, such as unacceptable terms.
Under Victoria's reserve-price disclosure rules, a seller can still set their own reserve, including one above the range advertised before it was set. Any change to a published reserve, up or down, restarts the 7-day period: the auction or fixed-date sale can't take place until the revised reserve has been public for a further 7 days. Once the reserve is published, it is the only advertised price; the Property Price Statement shows both the reserve and the indicative selling price.
From 1 October 2026, for auctions and fixed-date sales held on or after 16 October 2026, a Victorian estate agent must publish the seller's reserve price at least 7 days before the auction or fixed-date sale, update all advertising (including the Property Price Statement) to show it, and state it as a single dollar amount without words or symbols such as 'from', 'over', '+' or 'starting at'. If the reserve hasn't been published 7 days beforehand, the auction or fixed-date sale cannot go ahead.
Victoria's reserve-price disclosure rules apply to residential auctions and fixed-date sales run by an estate agent. They don't apply to commercial sales, private sales without a fixed date, or sales run by the owner without an agent. A pre-auction offer is treated as a private sale and isn't held to the 7-day requirement; a boardroom auction, or inviting offers by a set date and time, can be a fixed-date sale that is.
The lowest price a seller will accept is called the reserve price at auction, or the asking price in a private sale. It can differ from the agent's estimated selling price, a seller need not disclose it to their agent during the campaign, and an auction reserve is usually only set on the day itself — it may end up higher than the advertised price.
From 1 June 2027, Victorian agents must make the Section 32 vendor statement available within 14 days after a private sale is advertised, at least 14 days before an auction or fixed-date sale, and in any case before the buyer signs the contract if the property isn't advertised or sells within 14 days of being advertised.
A Statement of Information must be displayed at every open for inspection, included with online advertising, given to a prospective buyer within 2 business days of a request, and updated whenever the indicative selling price changes.
The indicative selling price in a Statement of Information must not be less than the agent's estimated selling price, the seller's asking price, or a price in a written offer the seller has already rejected.
A Statement of Information must be prepared for every residential property an agent is engaged to sell, whether or not it is advertised. It must include an indicative selling price (a single figure or a range of up to 10%), details of the 3 most comparable property sales (or a statement that fewer than 3 comparable sales exist), and the suburb's median house or unit price, covering a period of 3–12 months and no more than 6 months old.
For Victorian residential sales that become unconditional on or after 1 October 2026, the agent must add the sold price to the Property Price Statement within 7 days of the sale becoming unconditional and keep it publicly available for at least 18 months, unless the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria grants an exemption (for family or personal violence) or the agent's engagement, signed before 1 October 2026, requires the price not to be disclosed.
From 1 December 2027, Victorian agents must provide sold price information to the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria unless an exemption is granted.
An agent who breaches Victoria's underquoting laws risks a penalty of more than $48,842 (240 penalty units) and forfeiture of their sale commission.
For pre-auction offer purposes, a written offer is any written format that states, at minimum, the price the prospective buyer is offering and any other terms being proposed — not only an offer made through a signed contract of sale.
At an NSW auction the auctioneer must have the conditions of sale on display before and during the auction so that bidders can read them.
No bids can be made after the fall of the hammer at an NSW auction, and the highest bidder is legally obliged to sign and exchange contracts and pay the deposit on the spot, usually 10% of the purchase price. A buyer who cannot complete the contract loses the deposit and may be liable for damages suffered by the vendor.
To bid at an NSW residential or rural property auction you must register with the vendor's agent by presenting proof of identity, a card or document issued by a government or a financial institution, and you are given a bidder's number to display when you bid. Registering gives you the right to bid but does not oblige you to.
Before an NSW auction the seller nominates a reserve price, which is usually not advertised or disclosed and must be given in writing to the auctioneer before the auction starts. If bids do not meet the reserve, the property may be 'passed in' or withdrawn from auction, and the highest bidder then generally has the first opportunity to negotiate with the seller.
In the Northern Territory all real estate auctions must be carried out by a registered auctioneer. The successful bidder must sign the unconditional contract of sale and pay a deposit. If the property is passed in it has not been sold, and the highest bidder may have an opportunity to talk to the seller or the agent about increasing their offer.
At a Queensland auction the auctioneer must disclose the conditions of sale, including the required deposit, before bidding.
In Queensland the auctioneer must ask the vendor whether they have set a reserve price, which the vendor puts in writing; if none is set, the auctioneer must advise the vendor in writing that they will have to accept the highest bid; and the auctioneer must not disclose the reserve price to anyone other than a person acting for the seller. A penalty of $34,540 applies if the auctioneer doesn't do this. If the vendor sets no reserve, the property is on the market from the first bid.
Under the conditions prescribed for South Australian residential auctions, the contract is completed and signed by or for the buyer and the vendor immediately after the fall of the hammer, and the buyer pays the deposit immediately after the fall of the hammer unless both agree otherwise in writing before the auction starts. The bidders' guide says the deposit is usually around 10% of the purchase price.
In South Australia, if a property is passed in at auction and a person who bid at the auction enters a contract to buy it before midnight on the auction day, that contract has no cooling-off period.
South Australia's prescribed bidders' guide says any person who intends to bid at an auction for residential property must register. The vendor may have up to 3 bids made on their behalf by the auctioneer, each announced as a 'vendor bid' and each less than the reserve price. It is against the law for the vendor, or a person acting on the vendor's behalf, to bid at the auction; this is dummy bidding and can attract a maximum penalty of $20,000.
The Consumer Legislation Amendment Act 2026 (Vic), Act No. 36 of 2026, was assented to on 8 September 2026. Its amendments to the Estate Agents Act 1980 on property price information (Division 2 of Part 5, other than section 23) come into operation on 1 October 2026; most of its other provisions commence on proclamation, with fallback dates in 2026 and 2027.
At the close of a Western Australian auction the buyer pays a deposit of about 10% of the purchase price. The balance is due at settlement, which Consumer Protection says is usually 30 days after the auction; the settlement date is set in the conditions of sale.
In Western Australia a real estate auction is conducted by a licensed auctioneer, and Consumer Protection says auction purchases cannot be conditional on financing approval, so a bidder should have pre-approved finance. The highest bidder must immediately sign the contract of sale, and the auctioneer signs it on behalf of the seller.
In Western Australia, if the reserve price is not met the property is 'passed in' and does not sell; the auctioneer or agent may then negotiate privately with bidders.
At a Western Australian auction the reserve price is the seller's minimum and is not disclosed to bidders. The seller or their agent can make bids up to the reserve price, and the intended number of vendor bids must be shown in the conditions of sale.
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