Complaints from the public about real estate agents underquoting have dropped by more than half over the last financial year, data from the industry watchdog shows.
During the property boom, home buyers were increasingly frustrated by agents engaging in "bait pricing" where they would purposely advertise a property for less than the seller was willing to accept to attract market interest.
But these concerns appear to be drying up. Submissions to Fair Trading about the misrepresentation of property prices plummeted from 254 in 2015/2016 to 113 in the last financial year. Industry professionals say the government crackdown on underquoting, combined with the slowing real estate market, are likely behind the improvement.
Since January 2016, agents have been subject to new laws prohibiting real estate advertising with prices marketing as "offers over" or any price guides that might suggest a sales price lower than the estimated selling price on the agency agreement.
Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Matt Kean said the department had stepped up its compliance and had issued more infringements as a result.
"I want to put consumers first and protect them from shonky real estate agents," Mr Kean said.
"At the same time, we are receiving fewer complaints which tells us real estate agents are pulling their socks up and doing the right thing by consumers."
Real Estate Institute of Australia deputy president Leanne Pilkington said most agents wanted to comply with the rules around underquoting.
And for good reason - those that are found in breach face stiff penalties, including fines of up to $22,000 and forfeiture of commissions and fees.
???"When the new rules came in, many agents did a whole lot of training ... the majority are doing the right thing," Ms Pilkington said.
Agents now need to increase the advertised price, for instance if an offer above the guide is rejected.
Fair Trading also indicated at the time there would be more "effective enforcement".
Ms Pilkington said more consistent policing of real estate agents' marketing activities was having an impact.
EPS Property Search founder Patrick Bright, a vocal critic of price guide and auction laws over the past few years, has also noticed a stabilising in underquoting activity.
"The government measures have had some impact - it's not as prevalent as it was a couple of years ago," Mr Bright said.
He also said more enforcement from the authorities had been noticed by real estate agents - with a sharp uptick in penalty infringement notices issued to underquoting agencies.
"When agencies get pinged ... it puts agents on edge, and it makes them more careful," he said.
When the new laws were introduced, there was a clear spike in complaints from the public shown in the Fair Trading data.
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But some agents have argued complaints about price guides increase in hot property markets because of buyers willing to pay significantly more than anticipated, rather than agents willfully misrepresenting what a home will sell for.
Now the market has slowed, PK Property Group buyer's agent Peter Kelaher said real estate agents were being "more careful" with their pricing.
"They're starting to market things the other way - they're [appraising] properties at higher prices, and putting them on for that amount before bringing the price down a week later.
"They'll then advertise it as discounted."
The improvement in agent accuracy has also been noticed by RealAs chief executive Josh Rowe when looking at how accurate price guides had been on a suburb level.
The most inaccurate price guides in August 2016 were in the south Sydney suburb of Bexley, with marketing at 24 per cent below sale price. In August 2017, this area was still one of the worst for accurate quotes - but by a differential of 12 per cent.
And this appeared to be an improvement across the board, Mr Rowe said.
"Better agent quoting in NSW has come about because of increased home buyer expectations due to the easier access to price estimate information available online, and [a] government focus on the underquoting problem," he said.
