The Australian Property Institute has submitted to ministers in both NSW and Victoria calling for mandatory independent pre-sale valuations to become a standard requirement in every residential property transaction. The submissions argue that while both governments have announced welcome underquoting reforms, those reforms address the symptoms of the problem rather than its structural cause — the fact that the person responsible for setting the price guide (the real estate agent) has a direct financial interest in the sale outcome. Only a qualified, independent valuer can provide the arms-length assessment that buyers need and deserve.

In Victoria, API wrote to Minister for Consumer Affairs Nick Staikos MP to argue that the Allan Government’s landmark building and pest inspection reforms — which shift the cost of pre-sale information from buyers to vendors — demand logical consistency. If the principle is sound for building inspections, it is equally sound for the single most important piece of information in any property transaction: the property’s value.

In NSW, API wrote directly to Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong MP, following an earlier detailed submission to NSW Fair Trading in February. API noted that the NSW Government’s own reform package implicitly acknowledges the need for independent valuations by proposing them as a disciplinary sanction for agents found to have underquoted — and asked the obvious question: if an independent valuation is the right remedy after a breach, why should buyers have to wait for misconduct to occur before receiving that protection?

Both submissions demonstrate that the cost of a full residential valuation is negligible relative to property values, representing as little as 0.03% of the median Sydney house price and 0.05% of the median Melbourne house price. That is a fraction of what vendors already spend on marketing, styling, and agent commissions, and far less than the $1,920–$4,420 in wasted costs that buyers currently absorb when misled by underquoting.

For API members, the opportunity here is significant. API has close to 5,000 industry-accredited residential valuers nationally, and both submissions make clear that only qualified professionals — Certified Practising Valuers (CPV) and Residential Property Valuers (RPV) — should be authorised to provide these reports. If either government adopts this reform, it would create substantial new demand for valuation services and cement the profession’s role at the centre of the residential property transaction. API is actively seeking meetings with both ministers and stands ready to assist in developing implementation frameworks. We will keep members updated as these advocacy efforts progress. Members are encouraged to raise this initiative with their local MPs or other political contacts

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Read the Letter to the Minister for Consumer Affairs
Read the letter to the Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading