1 July 2022
NSW Fair Trading is inviting feedback on the proposed new Property and Stock Agents Regulation 2022.
The current Regulation supports the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 and is due to expire on 1 September 2022.
The proposed new Regulation has been modernised and improved with more clarity, better consumer protections and less administrative load for agents.
Read More1 July 2022
Consumer watchdogs across Australia have been cracking down on the illegal practice of underquoting for many years now. South Australia’s Consumer and Business Services (CBS) department has publicly advised that they will be cracking down on agents partaking in underquoting this year, bringing to light the fact that many agents are still willing to mislead their clients despite heavy penalties.
An agent or sales representative must have reasonable grounds for advertising a property at the price stated in the advertisement, or they can face penalties under the Australian Consumer Law of up to $500,000 for an individual or $10 million for a company.
Read More14 June 2022
NSW Fair Trading has reported that more than 19% (206) of the 1,059 real estate agents assessed by inspectors in April 2022 were found to be in breach of their annual Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements.
Licensed agents and certificate of registration holders are required to complete CPD specific to their licence/registration category between 23 March and 22 March, each year.
The regulatory body has noted in their June 2022 newsletter that, “inspectors have taken compliance action through education processes, issuing warnings and fines totalling $69,300. Inspectors are continuing to visit real estate offices to review CPD requirements and take appropriate compliance action.”
Read More9 June 2022
From 1 July 2022, the ACT government will be introducing changes to the regulation of the real estate industry.
The reforms will include changes to:
licence and registration categories
qualification and experience requirements for licences and registrations, and
restrictions on the activities each licence and registration group can undertake.
Come 1 July 2022, the College will be releasing ACT legislation-based courses in line with the new training requirements, to help students ease into the reforms and ensure they are compliant with their educational requirements as outlined by Access Canberra.
Read More2 June 2022
Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) published notices to consumers via their website last month, advising that they will be taking legal/disciplinary action against two individuals. Although the cases are separate and unrelated to one another, of the various reasons for action, both individuals are alleged to have failed to act fairly and honestly, conducted themselves in a way detrimental to the estate agent industry, and engaged in unprofessional behaviour. Both individuals are also considered by CAV as not being “fit and proper persons to hold an estate agent licence”.
Read More2 June 2022
A WA woman reported to Consumer Protection a loss of around $732,000 after scammers intercepted email communications between her and her settlement agent in relation to the purchase of a Beaconsfield property.
Read More27 May 2022
This month, the WA Government announced there would be a 50% reduction in land tax as part of its 2022-23 state budget. This decision was made as part of the WA Government’s significant reforms to housing availability, to promote build-to-rent (BTR) developments.
Real Estate Institute of WA president, Damian Collins, said the positive outlook for the WA economy will see the current strong cycle for the housing market continue.
"We expect that this strength and the forecast 1.2% increase in population will continue to underpin further growth of WA’s residential sales market,” Mr Collins said.
The State Government’s decision to incentivise the construction of BTR stock acknowledges the critical role the private sector plays in delivering additional housing supply, he said.
Read More28 April 2022
Flood recovery rental support now open for applications
Free interpreting service for real estate agents
Strata information is now easier to find if you are selling or managing a strata property
Reminder: Real estate trust account audits due 30 September 2022
20 April 2022
A former agent of the Broadbeach area has been convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment after using his client’s money to fund his gambling habit and business expenses.
Read More8 January 2022
Fare thee well, NSW Real Estate Training College — we’re ringing in 2022 with a complete rebrand, including an all-new website and purpose-built student portal!
Our updated website includes streamlined navigation, a more simplified enrolment process, interactive forms, and so much more 😍
Explore away! If you’ve got any questions, our FAQs page is a good place to start. Otherwise, please feel free to contact us. We would love to hear your feedback!
Read More2 November 2020
The real estate and property reforms that began on 23 March 2020 changed the rules for trust account withdrawals. Fair Trading has been asked to make these new rules clearer.
Read More16 October 2019
Agency’s unreasonable interference with tenant’s access to premises
Trust account breaches by agency
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In the spirit of reconciliation, Macdonald Education acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
