Fair Trading inspection blitz on Central Coast real estate agents leads to enforcement against underquoting
/NSW Fair Trading (NSWFT) has undertaken unannounced visits to 64 real estate and property services businesses on the Central Coast resulting in on the spot fines, warning letters and the opening of an investigation into a real estate agent for repeated underquoting breaches.
Fair Trading deployed 12 inspectors for five days as part of its Anywhere Anytime audit program to enforce NSW strata and property laws by targeting regulatory priorities including underquoting, misrepresentations and fair contracting.
The Strata and Property Services Commissioner and Fair Trading inspectors visited 33 real estate agents, 13 retirement villages, seven residential (land lease) communities, six strata agents and five conveyancers in Gosford, Terrigal, Erina, Bateau Bay and Avoca.
During the visits, inspectors issued seven penalty infringement notices to real estate agents and strata agents for breaches of underquoting, rules of conduct and supervision regulations, while one strata agent was fined for failing to have their accounts audited. A further real estate agent is now subject to ongoing investigation for underquoting offences.
A further 20 education and warning letters were issued to real estate and strata agents and one warning/education letter was issued to a retirement village operator.
While some audits were conducted randomly, others were targeted through intelligence-led data collection, including reviewing recent sale prices, fines issued and complaint data to target consumer harms in line with Fair Trading’s compliance and enforcement priorities.
From 2024-2025 NSWFT received 42 complaints in the Central Coast region’s property sector with 16 relating to the management of strata schemes. Property sales complaints related to misrepresentation and underquoting, while NSWFT also received 26 complaints relating to residential land lease communities.
There are more than 2400 real estate licenses in the Central Coast Council area, including more than 1300 people holding a property license allowing them to work as a real estate agent, while there are more than 700 individuals with property certificates allowing them to work in the industry.
Quotes attributable to Strata and Property Services Commissioner Angus Abadee
“The $8.4 million Strata and Property Services Taskforce within NSW Fair Trading allows specialised inspectors to undertake meaningful compliance and enforcement while lifting standards through proactive education.”
“Our targeted compliance of licensees who had been known to NSW Fair Trading through previous enforcement outcomes showed there had been improvements to practices and record keeping, however, across the board there was room for improvement.”
“While the majority of real estate agents were found to be complying with their obligations, the message is clear – you can expect a visit from Fair Trading anytime and anywhere.”
“NSW Fair Trading is planning further unannounced inspections across the state and will be targeting operators who have a compliance history, with inspectors to revisit the Central Coast in the coming months to ensure education and warning letters have been complied with.”
“As we move into the peak of Spring auction periods, Fair Trading will be undertaking proactive compliance and enforcement activity to continue to combat underquoting.”
