Learn · Price and market evidence
How to tell whether an asking price makes sense
Separate ask, guide, disclosed estimate, rejected offers and comps. Underquoting rules differ by state. Not a valuation.
Districts Research · ·
Asking price
An ask is a marketing figure. Test it against recorded sales and this lot’s constraints.
- AskWhat they want you to pay
- SalesWhat settled, with dates
Swipe the panels.
Evidence order
How do I tell whether an asking price or auction guide makes sense without getting a valuation?
An asking price is a marketing number. A price guide is often a regulated estimate. A rejected written offer is a fact about this campaign. A recorded sale of another dwelling is transaction evidence. Those four things are not interchangeable, and the rules that govern the first two differ by state and territory.
New South Wales and Victoria have detailed underquoting statutes. Queensland treats a false offers-over figure as bait advertising and forbids a price guide at auction. Other jurisdictions rely mainly on Australian Consumer Law. Read the row for the land you are buying, then test the number against comps. Districts does not value the property.
Ask, guide, estimate, rejected offer, comp, recorded sale
Write the label on every number before you compare it. Mixing labels is how a guide becomes “the market”.
| Label | What it is | What it is not |
|---|---|---|
| Asking price | The seller’s advertised figure, or “offers over” that figure. | A duty to sell at that number. |
| Price guide / indicative selling price | A published range or figure used in marketing, sometimes required by law. | A valuation. |
| Agent’s estimated selling price | The figure in the agency agreement (NSW) or the agent’s estimate behind a Victorian statement. | A buyer’s ceiling. |
| Rejected written offer | An amount the seller has already refused, where that fact is known. | The next sale price. |
| Comparable sale | A recorded transaction you judge similar enough to adjust. | This property’s value. |
| Recorded sale of this lot | A settled transfer on this title, with a date. | Proof the next sale will match it. |
Underquoting and guide rules by state
There is no national quoting statute. Use the official consumer or fair-trading page for that state. A Property and Stock Agents Amendment Act 2026 has been passed in NSW but had not commenced when this page was checked; the current NSW rules below are the in-force Fair Trading guidance.
| Jurisdiction | What official material requires | Buyer use |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | Agent must put a reasonable estimated selling price in the agency agreement, with evidence. A range cannot span more than 10%. Advertising must not sit below that estimate. “Offers over”, “$X+” and similar are banned. The seller can instruct the agent not to disclose any price, in which case the agent must give none. | If a price is published, treat it as the agent’s current estimate, not a bargain tag. If no price is published, the seller has used the no-disclosure option or the campaign is silent. You still need comps. |
| Victoria | Every residential campaign by an estate agent needs a Statement of Information: indicative selling price (single figure or range up to 10%), three comparable sales or a statement that fewer exist, and a suburb median not more than six months old. The indicative price must not sit below the agent’s estimate, the seller’s ask, or a rejected written offer. Displayed at inspections, with online ads, and within two business days of a request. | Read the statement before the inspection. The three comps are the agent’s selection. Re-run your own set. See comparable sales. |
| Queensland | Office of Fair Trading: an offers-over figure should be the vendor’s minimum on Form 6. Advertising a price the vendor will not accept is bait advertising and can breach Australian Consumer Law. Property Occupations Regulation: if the property is sold by auction or without a price, the prescribed statement is that a price guide cannot be provided. | Do not expect a Victorian-style statement. At auction, official material says a guide cannot be provided. Your comps are the work. |
| WA, SA, TAS, ACT, NT | No NSW/VIC-style estimated-selling-price statute was found on the official pages checked for this guide. Misleading price representations can still engage Australian Consumer Law. Confirm any local fair-trading guidance on the day you act. | Treat a published ask as marketing. Build the comp set. Do not invent a 10% range rule for these jurisdictions. |
Worked test: ask versus two comps and a statutory land value
Labelled illustration, not a live address. A Districts page shows an asking price of $1.12 million, two recorded house sales in the same suburb at $1.05 million (14 weeks ago, similar land, no flood overlay) and $980,000 (11 months ago, smaller land), and a statutory land value that is loaded. The land-value field is a rating figure, not a sale estimate. See statutory land value.
What you can write: the ask sits above the fresher similar sale and well above the older smaller sale. What you cannot write: that the house is overpriced by a percentage, or that the land value “supports” the ask. Directional only. If the Victorian statement’s three comps are all units and this is a house, the statement has not given you a usable set.
Traps that treat a guide as the market
- Using a NSW “no price disclosed” campaign as evidence the home is above your budget, or below it.
- Importing Victoria’s 10% range rule into Queensland or Western Australia.
- Treating the 2026 NSW amendment as commenced when it is not.
- Averaging the ask with a statutory land value.
- Calling a Districts price-explanation check a valuation.
What an asking price does not establish
It does not establish market value, a duty to sell, or what you should bid. A lawful guide is still marketing. Recorded sales remain the transaction evidence. Districts never blends ask, guide and sale into a value.
How Districts shows the ask
A property page shows the asking price or last recorded sale beside the official parcel area, each labelled by source. Where a listing source publishes an estimate range, it is shown as that source’s estimate, not as a figure Districts produced. The price-explanation check asks whether constraints help explain the ask relative to land size. It is a Districts-derived indicator. See why Districts does not provide a valuation.
How to confirm the label before you lean on the number
- Name the jurisdiction’s quoting document (agency estimate, Statement of Information, Form 6, or none).
- Build your own comps. See comparable sales.
- Read ask versus recorded sale before you treat a past transfer as today’s price.
Common questions
Is a 10% price range allowed everywhere?
No. NSW and Victoria use a 10% span in their quoting rules. That is not a national standard. Do not apply it in other states unless that state’s official page says so.
How Districts derives it
Explore using Districts
Sources
Official material this page used. Dates are when Districts checked the page, not the life of the instrument.
NSW Government
Price estimation and underquoting when selling a property
Reasonable estimated selling price, 10% range cap, ban on offers-over and plus pricing, seller opt-out of disclosure.
Checked
NSW Government
Changes to property and stock agents laws
2026 underquoting amendment described as forthcoming; not treated as commenced on this page.
Checked
Consumer Affairs Victoria
Understanding property prices and underquoting for buyers
Statement of Information contents, 10% indicative range, three comps, suburb median, two-business-day request.
Checked
Queensland Government
Offers-over should match the Form 6 minimum; bait advertising and ACL.
Checked
Related guides
Price and market evidence
Asking price vs recorded sale: what counts as price evidence
Rank ask, guide, reported sold and recorded sale. Lag, related-party transfers and inclusions can still make a recorded price incomplete.
Price and market evidence
How to use comparable sales properly
Sort recorded sales into strong, reasonable, weak and false comps. Adjust directionally. Thin evidence is a finding, not a valuation.
Price and market evidence
What is statutory land value?
A jurisdiction matrix of land, site, UV, UCV, CIV, GRV and AUV. Issued for rates and tax. Not a sale-price estimate or a comparable.
Price and market evidence
Why Districts does not provide a property valuation
A valuation is a registered valuer’s opinion on a stated basis. Districts shows labelled evidence instead. It does not compute an automated value.
Research purposes only. Not personal financial advice, a valuation, or a planning certificate. Always speak to a licensed financial adviser before you act.