Short answer: once Stage 2 of NSW's new underquoting law starts, every residential sale ad an agent arranges will need a selling price or a price range. That includes your own website, social media posts, apps and email newsletters, not only the portals. Online ads that stop complying must be fixed or taken down within one business day. Fair Trading says the start date is still to be announced and is expected towards the end of 2026, so now is the time to get your website ready.
This post explains what the new law says, where it touches a real agency website, and a checklist you can give to whoever looks after your site and listing feed. It is general information, not legal advice. For your own agency, check the official pages linked here or ask REINSW or your compliance adviser.
What changed, and when
The NSW Parliament passed the Property and Stock Agents Amendment (Underquoting and Other Agent Conduct) Act 2026. The Government's media release of 24 June 2026 said every advertisement would need a price or price guide so buyers can tell whether a property fits their budget, and that underquoting penalties would rise to between $22,000 and $110,000 or three times the agent's commission, whichever is greater.
The law is starting in stages. According to NSW Fair Trading's page on the changes to property and stock agents laws (updated 8 July 2026):
- Stage 1 started on 29 June 2026: higher court penalties, new disciplinary powers, agency agreement changes and a new impersonation offence.
- Stage 2 covers the advertising rules. Its start date is to be announced and is "currently expected to be towards the end of 2026", because it waits on regulations and forms.
A trust accounting firm, Trust Account Solutions, reported on 2 October 2026 that a Fair Trading email to licensees said the advertising and pricing rules were expected from November 2026, with the Statement of Information following in February 2027. Those dates come from that report, not from a published regulation, so treat them as a guide and watch the Fair Trading page.
What the advertising rules say
Fair Trading's summary sets out five rules that matter for anyone who publishes listings:
- A price in every ad. Residential sale ads that the agent arranges must include a selling price or price range. Fair Trading names websites, social media, apps and email. A for sale sign on or next to the property is exempt, and regulations may allow other limited exemptions. If an exempt ad does show a price, that price must still comply.
- A price floor. The price, or the lowest figure in a range, must not be below the agent's estimated selling price, the highest bid from a registered bidder at a passed-in auction that the agent knows or ought reasonably to know about, or a written offer the seller rejected only because it was too low.
- One business day to fix online ads. If an online ad stops complying, for example after an offer is rejected, it must be updated or removed within one business day.
- A Statement of Information. A new document in a form Fair Trading will publish, including comparable sales. Online ads must include it or link to it.
- A reasonable estimated selling price. Agents must consider prescribed comparable sold prices, keep the estimate reasonable and keep records.
REINSW's summary of the bill in March 2026 adds that the underquoting offence also applies to verbal price guidance, and that original and revised Statements of Information must be kept for at least 3 years.
Some rules apply already, whatever the Stage 2 date. Fair Trading's page on real estate agent advertising laws says ads must include the licence holder's name, disclose any interest the agent has in the property, must not be untrue or likely to mislead, and must not place a property in a suburb it is not in.
Where this touches your website
Most agencies think of the portals first. But the same listing usually lives in five or six places, and each one counts as an ad you arranged.
1. Listing pages on your own site
Many agency websites pull listings from the agency's CRM through a feed. Look at how your site handles a listing with no price. Common templates show "Contact agent", "Auction" or "Price on request" in the price spot when the price field is empty. Under Stage 2, that listing would need a price or range unless an exemption applies. Ask your developer what your template shows when the price field is blank, and whether it can be changed to flag the listing instead of publishing it.
2. Copies that do not update themselves
The one business day rule is easy to meet for a listing that updates from the CRM. It is harder for copies someone made by hand: a featured property block on the homepage, a "just listed" blog post, a landing page built for one campaign, a PDF brochure on the site, an Instagram or Facebook post, or last week's email newsletter in your archive. Make a list of every place a listing appears, and mark which ones update from the feed and which ones a person must change.
3. Price changes after an offer or a passed-in auction
When a written offer is rejected only because it was too low, or an auction passes in, the price floor can move. The people who hear about the offer are often not the people who update the website. Agree who changes the price in the CRM, and check that the change reaches every page from the list above within the business day.
4. A place for the Statement of Information
Online ads will need to include the Statement of Information or link to it. Its form is not published yet, but you can still plan the slot. Victoria already has a similar rule, and its version asks for the link right next to the price; we covered that in our post on Victoria's Property Price Statement. Whatever NSW's final wording, a listing template with a field for a document link near the price will make the change a setting, not a rebuild.
5. Appraisal and campaign pages
Pages that ask sellers to book an appraisal often promise a figure. The new law puts weight on a reasonable estimated selling price backed by comparable sales, and the existing rules already ban misleading statements used to win clients. Read your appraisal page and ads the way a seller would, and remove any line about price that your team could not back with records.
6. Licence details and suburb names
These are current rules, not future ones. Check that the licence holder's name shows on listing pages and ads, and that listings are filed under the right suburb. Suburb filters and "nearby suburb" tags in listing software can place a property in the wrong area without anyone noticing.
Checklist for your web developer
| Check | Where on the site | When |
|---|---|---|
| Licence holder's name shown with listings and ads | Listing template, footer | Now |
| Interest in a property disclosed where it applies | Listing template | Now |
| Correct suburb on every listing | Feed fields, filters, tags | Now |
| Blank price field flags the listing instead of showing "Contact agent" | Listing template and feed | Before Stage 2 |
| List of every place a listing appears, marked feed or manual | Homepage blocks, landing pages, PDFs, social, email | Before Stage 2 |
| Named person and process for price changes within one business day | CRM and website | Before Stage 2 |
| Field for a Statement of Information link near the price | Listing template | Before the Statement of Information starts |
| Appraisal page claims about price can be backed by records | Appraisal and campaign pages | Now |
A simple test you can run today
Open your website on a phone. Pick three current NSW sale listings: one with a price, one marked as auction, and one marked "Contact agent". For each one, note what a buyer sees in the price spot, then find the same property on your homepage, your social pages and your latest email. If the price is missing or different anywhere, that is the gap to fix before Stage 2 starts. It takes about 15 minutes.
If your agency also sells in Queensland, Victoria or the UK, the rules differ. Queensland auction listings must not show a price guide at all (see our Queensland auction listing checklist), and our UK estate agent website checklist covers the English rules for fees, redress and rental listings. In South Australia an advertised price must be one figure or a range of up to 10%, as our South Australia price advertising checklist explains.
Want a second pair of eyes?
If you are not sure how your listing template or feed handles any of this, we can look at a few live pages with you. See how we work with agencies on our real estate page and our website development service. Every project is planned and quoted after a short call. Book a free 15-minute call when it suits you.