Australian Property News

Selling technique banned from the market

Posted on Wednesday, October 27 2010 at 2:54 PM

The ‘price-plus’ selling technique used in real estate advertisements will be permanently banned so buyers can compare ‘apples with apples’, according to Real Estate Institute of Victoria president John Grabyn.

The Minister for Consumer Affairs took decisive action recently to remove this technique from the market and has announced that a consumer education campaign will be promptly undertaken on the process of buying and selling property.

“The REIV’s own pricing guidelines state that all property advertisements which include a price should be shown as either a single figure or a range no greater than 15 per cent,” said Grabyn.

“The banning of ‘price-plus’ (when a property price is listed with a plus beside it indicating that the buyer must be prepared to pay over this amount) will not restrict the price a property will be sold for as the market will determine this but it will make it simpler for consumers and bring some consistency into property advertising,” he said.

“By banning ‘price-plus’ and other misleading price display methods, both consumers and the real estate profession will benefit,” said Grabyn.