Vendors selling property in NSW may have to bear a price for it

Following the state’s efforts towards better regulation of its real estate industry, vendors selling property in New South Wales may soon be required to bear a cost for the process.   

The NSW Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation, Victor Dominello, announced the launch of the Real Estate and Property Division last week. This is an arm of the NSW Office of Fair Trading that will take care of all real estate and property functions including industry regulation in the state. The division is expected to lay a lot of importance on consumer protection.

Dominello also suggested that these steps could include making it mandatory for vendors to supply a standard inspection report to prospective buyers when selling a home, reported Your Investment Property. This is expected to stop buyers having to spend money on reports for properties they may not even purchase.

“You go to an auction there's a good chance you'll be looking at five different properties over the course of a few weeks – that's five different reports,” said Dominello.

“That imposes a serious cost to the consumer in circumstances where there's no guarantee they'll get the property anyway.”

The Real Estate and Property Division would consult the state’s peak real estate bodies, while devising these alterations to the industry.

The potential mandatory reports and other changes in the industry, for instance, more extensive  training requirements for agents would also be considered in the first half of 2016, added Dominello.

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