Victorian Home Buyers Can Now See Auction Reserve Prices a Week Ahead

Real estate agents in Victoria must now publish a seller’s reserve price—the lowest price the seller will accept—at least seven days before a home goes to auction.

The rule applies to auctions and fixed-date sales held from Oct. 16, and Consumer Affairs Victoria says if the reserve has not been published for the full seven days, the sale cannot go ahead.

A fixed-date sale is a method of selling a property in which the seller sets a date and time by which prospective buyers must submit their offers.

The reserve must be a single dollar figure, without words such as “from” or “over,” and agents must update all advertising to show it.

When the laws were introduced to Parliament in June, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Renters Paul Edbrooke said the changes would mean Victorians no longer wasted their Saturdays at auctions chasing homes they could never afford.

Previously, sellers were not required to disclose their reserve price until auction day, allowing it to be set above the advertised price range.

Sold Prices to Be Made Public

The reserve rule is part of a wider package of changes, most of which started on Oct. 1.

Agents must now publish a property’s final sale price within seven days of the sale becoming unconditional—that is, when all conditions of the contract have been met—and keep the price online for at least 18 months.

Exemptions may be granted in cases involving personal or family violence affecting the seller or purchaser.

A new Property Price Statement (PPS) has also replaced the old Statement of Information, which gave buyers a price guide and details of recent sales of similar nearby homes.

The PPS must now list key features such as bedrooms, bathrooms and land size, and appear prominently in online advertisements, not at the bottom of a listing.

The changes come amid a substantial gap between what some Melbourne buyers can afford and the prices of homes on the market.

A 2025 report from Domain Group found that buyers searching for homes within 10 kilometres of the CBD faced a median shortfall of $310,000 between their budgets and house asking prices, with the gap exceeding $900,000 in some sought-after suburbs.

More changes follow next year. From June 1, 2027, buyers will get earlier access to the seller’s legal statement about the property, and from July 1, 2027, agents will be banned from taking their commission straight out of a buyer’s deposit before settlement.

But not everyone believes publishing reserves will end buyers’ frustration. RMIT University economics lecturer Peyman Khezr warned that the reform would not prevent homes from selling well above the advertised price, saying “a reserve price is a floor, not a forecast.”

Khezr said sellers would also lose the flexibility to adjust their price late in a campaign.