Premier Mike Baird announced on the weekend that a re-elected Coalition government would move to improve confidence among homebuyers by closing loopholes currently being exploited by a minority of agents.

“Under new laws, it will be illegal for agents to advertise a property for less than the selling price they have outlined in their agreement with the vendor,” he said.

However, Bathurst real estate agents say under-quoting is not a problem in most areas of the state and any crackdown would be an over-reaction.

Bathurst Real Estate principal and director Mick Whittaker believes this issue has arisen from complaints made to the Office of Fair Trading by Sydneysiders in the midst of a market boom.

The crackdown is making “a mountain out of a molehill”, he said. 

“I would probably think [Mr Baird’s] concerns are currently being raised because the market is very heated in Sydney,” Mr Whittaker said.

“We don’t often hear these complaints coming when the market is low or depressed.”

Real estate agents who are caught under-quoting currently face fines of $22,000. Under the proposed changes, they would also lose all fees and commissions made from the sale.

Under the changes, agents will no longer be able to use the term “offers over” in their advertisements and will have to provide a clear price to vendors based on market evidence.

“All too often we hear about agents promising vendors a selling price they’re unlikely to ever achieve to secure their listing before pressuring them to agree to a lower price once the property sells,” Fair Trading Minister Matthew Mason-Cox said.

“In a move to offer greater protection to vendors, agents will need to substantiate what they believe a property may be worth by providing a vendor with comparable selling price data for similar properties.”

Mr Whittaker believes the government and Fair Trading are over-reacting and said it had been his experience that properties listed with the “offers over” term rarely sold for more than 10 per cent over the asking price.

He says regulators should focus more on making subtle changes to benefit all parties involved so agents can better serve their clients.

“I think there are bigger things in our industry that could be looked at,” he said. “We need to be able to work with buyers to get a successful result for everyone.”