Australia
Australia: the market, agents and agencies from Sydney to Perth, state by state.
Queensland has its own magazine: Queensland Estate.
Western Australia opens its A$250 million pre-sale guarantee
Developers in Western Australia can now apply for Keystart to underwrite up to half of an apartment or townhouse project's unsold homes. How the guarantee works.
Australia's expanded 5% Deposit Scheme, one year and 102,594 buyers on
A joint ministerial release of 1 October counts 102,594 first home buyers in the scheme's first uncapped year. What the figures show, state by state, and what the Reserve Bank adds.
Australia: AUSTRAC issues first notices to non-enrolled businesses
AUSTRAC, the regulator of Australia's AML/CTF regime, has issued its first infringement notices to real estate and other newly regulated businesses that had not enrolled.
Australia's home starts rise 7.0% in the June quarter, ABS data shows
ABS Building Activity figures for the June quarter 2026 show 52,201 homes started and 47,168 finished across Australia, with houses leading starts and other dwellings leading completions.
Australian home values fall 1.1% in September, a sixth monthly drop
Cotality's Home Value Index puts national home values 5.2% below their March peak after a sixth straight monthly fall, with Darwin the only capital to rise.
Australia's main residence CGT exemption: the 6-year and 6-month rules
How the ATO applies the capital gains tax exemption on an Australian home: moving in, owning two homes for six months, renting out a former home for six years, and letting part of it.
Australia: RBA finds under 1% of mortgage borrowers in negative equity
The Reserve Bank's October Financial Stability Review says home prices are falling and risks are elevated, yet most Australian mortgage holders still have room to cope.
Melbourne's Preston Market plan: 900 apartments, eight towers
A master plan for Preston Market in Melbourne's north keeps 81 per cent of the market and adds about 900 apartments. Public feedback to the Victorian government closes on 14 October.
How an agent's commission is set and earned in New South Wales
No scale fixes a selling agent's commission in New South Wales. The agency agreement sets it, and NSW Fair Trading's rules decide when it is earned, disclosed or lost.
New South Wales: what to check before you exchange on a home
Building and pest inspections, strata records, the section 184 certificate and the cooling-off period: what each check covers for a buyer in New South Wales, and what it leaves out.
New South Wales surcharge purchaser duty: the 9% and the 200-day tests
Revenue NSW charges foreign persons a 9% surcharge on homes bought in New South Wales. How foreign status is tested, what the 200-day rules require and when the duty is due.
New South Wales underquoting rules: what an agency must record
How New South Wales defines underquoting, what a selling agency has to write down and keep, the penalties in force, and what the two stages of the 2026 Act change.
NSW agents query Centrepay rent fee as card surcharge ban begins
Australia's ban on card surcharges began on 1 October 2026. The same day, REINSW asked the NSW Government about a A$0.99 fee on rent paid through Centrepay.
NSW's first End of Tenancy Survey: renters end 85% of leases
New South Wales has published the first results of its mandatory End of Tenancy Survey. More than 275,000 responses show who ends a lease in the state, and why.
Buyer's agents in NSW and Victoria: licences, agreements and duties
Who may act for a buyer in New South Wales and Victoria, which licence they hold, what the written agreement must cover and the conduct rules each state regulator sets out.
NSW and Victoria: cooling-off, deposits and settlement timelines
In New South Wales a sale binds at exchange, in Victoria at signature. How the cooling-off period, the deposit and settlement day work in each state, rule by rule.
Victoria's auction rulebook: vendor bids, co-owners and dummy bidding
How a public property auction must run in Victoria: what the auctioneer has to display and announce, who may lawfully bid, and what follows the fall of the hammer.
Victoria makes agents publish reserve prices a week before auction
Victoria's first price-transparency changes began on 1 October 2026. Reserve prices go public seven days before an auction, and sold prices seven days after a sale is final.