Property purchasers in NSW and Victoria will soon have a lot clearer idea of how much they should be paying with changes to regulations on the cards for real estate agents in both states.

According to this story in Domain, NSW real estate agents who underquote properties and lure buyers with “clear as mud” price guides could soon be hit with fines as high as $110,000 for quoting  misleading price guides in order to attract more bidders at auctions.

The clear intention is to create an illusion that more people are competing for the property than can actually afford it, which leads to unrealistic hopes and disappointment, especially for first-time buyers.

The NSW Government is planning to introduce tough new legislation that “removes the financial incentive to break the law”, including mandated price or price guides on all properties and a required Statement of Information to show exactly how those estimates were calculated.

Meanwhile, in Victoria, according to this story in Realestate.com.au and elsewhere, the state is planning to end the dubious practice of real estate agents concealing the sales prices on their listings.  The “price withheld” and “contact agent” listings – clearly intended to lure potential purchasers to register the fact that they are in the market for a new home – will be banned in legislation to be tabled later this year.

That’s just a couple of stories from this week’s LeftField Communications property news feed.

Free reads

Domain

Orima Woden: Where sophisticated shared spaces meet high-end boutique design
Sometimes less is more. At YarraVale in Woden, the next stage trades high-density living for a boutique architectural feel and generous floor plans. Spanning six levels and 52 apartments, Orima promises a residential experience with all the benefits of a larger complex.

RBA interest rate decision March 2026: Cash rate rises to 4.10 per cent
Home owners have been stung by a second consecutive rate rise as the central bank moves to subdue stubborn inflation amid global tensions linked to the Middle East conflict.

ABC Online

The RBA rate hike that will do nothing to curb inflation
Andrew Hauser has left no-one in any doubt about the current thinking at the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). In an uncharacteristically blunt assessment, a little over a week ago, the deputy RBA governor said unless action was taken, the Iran war and the sudden surge in energy prices could lead to “toxic inflation”.

Victoria Barracks, HMAS Penguin part of controversial plan to sell national defence assets
There is strident opposition to Commonwealth plans to sell some of the nation’s most valuable military land. At HMAS Penguin, on Sydney’s Middle Head, community groups say the harbourside site must be protected from developers before it is reshaped as yet another “Millionaire’s row”.

Realestate.com.au

Banks are cutting home loan approvals as soaring fuel costs hit family budgets
For Australians chasing the keys to their next home, every dollar counts – and right now the price at the bowser is the quiet force reshaping how much you can borrow. As petrol surges on global turbulence, banks are counting those extra kilometres in their calculators, meaning the road to your dream address could start with a smarter commute.

Brunswick $1.55m builds win amid Melb housing crisis
Wealthy buyers are splashing $1.55m on Brunswick townhouses in just four weeks, defying a brutal construction crisis that has left other Melbourne projects struggling to get off the ground.

1 in 2 Aussies now face major home price rule change
Home sellers in NSW will soon have to share a price or price guide when advertising their home for sale, creating greater price transparency for buyers in more than half of the country. The NSW state government will introduce new laws this week to crack down on underquoting, including rules that force vendors to publish a price or price guide on homes for sale.

Real estate giant blasts negative gearing changes in warning to renters
The nation’s largest real estate group has launched a scathing strike against potential changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax (CGT), warning a shake-up would spark a collapse in rental supply and send prices soaring for 2.9 million households.

ANZ hikes fixed mortgage rates in pre-emptive strike before RBA decision
In a bold pre-emptive strike just days before the Reserve Bank of Australia’s next cash rate decision, ANZ has dramatically increased its fixed mortgage rates by up to 0.25 percentage points.

‘Brutal’: Salary needed to buy in Sydney after rate hikes
Homeowners are set to take a second successive hit to their mortgage repayments this year, with all four of the big banks predicting a cash rate rise on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the barriers to entry for first-time buyers continue to get taller.

Brighton: Penthouse with private pool, six-car garage for sale
Prominent Melbourne architectural design and construction practice founder Nick McKimm is selling his impressive Brighton penthouse with a $9.1m-$9.9m range.

Vic: $100k earners face suburb shortage as rates hike looms
Victoria is a single interest rate hike away from having fewer than 150 suburbs where a person earning under $100,000 can afford the mortgage on a house.

Urban Developer (Partly Free)

Marina Mirage Pivotal Moment for Gold Coast’s Luxury Future: Fraser
When architect Callum Fraser looks at the Gold Coast skyline, what he sees is far from a conventional city. “I like to joke it’s the architectural version of the bar scene from Star Wars, where everybody’s trying to be unique and different in a more extroverted way,” he says.

Allambi Moves on $54m Shoptop Scheme at Balmain
Plans for a $54-million shoptop scheme in Sydney’s Balmain have gone on exhibition, with Allambi Property proposing 36 homes and two retail spaces. The 2860sq m site at 189 Darling Street, 7 Waterview Street and 2 Colgate Avenue includes frontage to Balmain’s major retail strip.

SA’s Minuzzo Plots Apartments Behind Unley Factory Façade
A developer plans to dismantle much of the heritage facade of a rare industrial building in the affluent Adelaide suburb of Unley and build an eight-storey residential tower behind it before reconstructing the red-brick edifice.

Novus Plots 250-Home BtR Tower at North Melbourne
Novus is planning its latest project in the Victorian capital, filing a proposal for a 250 build-to-rent apartments at North Melbourne to replace industrial buildings in an inner-city renewal precinct.

Bid to Lift Under-Construction Apartment Tower at Ryde
A tower that is part of an under-construction mixed-use project in the Shepherds Bay waterfront redevelopment area on Sydney’s Parramatta River could rise from 10 to 14 storeys. Developer Holdmark Property Group has filed plans to add three levels and 37 apartments to the residential tower at 155-157 Church Street at Ryde, near Meadowbank and about 13km north-west of the Sydney CBD.

Glenelg’s Tallest Tower Wins SCAP Planning Consent
South Australia’s State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP) has granted planning consent to Karidis Corporation for an 18-storey mixed-use tower at Glenelg, subject to six reserved matters and four conditions.

Time & Place Plots 300-Home South Melbourne Tower
The covers have come off Time & Place’s plans for a 22-storey apartment tower on a prime South Melbourne street that’s undergoing a transformation. Park Street Development Partnership Pty Ltd—ASIC documents list Time & Place executive directors Tim Price and Christopher O’Keefe as its officer holders—has submitted a planning permit application with the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning to develop the site at 60-70 Park Street.

Tallest Tower Approved for Adelaide’s Glenelg Beach
Adelaide-based Karidis Corporation will have two years to commence and three years to complete an 18-storey residential tower to be the tallest, by five levels, at South Australia’s best-known beach. This week, after SA’s state architect provided a ringing endorsement of the planned tower at the beachside suburb of Glenelg, a state assessment panel approved the project.

Urban Property Group Unveils 40-Storey Castle Hill Tower
A Sydney-based developer heavyweight’s latest plans for the city’s north-west have gone on public exhibition. The scheme filed by Urban Property Group through its project entity UPG Castle Corner Pty Ltd proposes a 40-storey highrise for a site at 16–20 Old Castle Hill Road, Castle Hill within The Hills Shire.

Apartments.com.au

Deicorp secures $11.6 million sale at Falcon & Alexander, Crows Nest
Prolific developer Deicorp has secured an $11.6 million sale in its recently launched Lower North Shore apartment development, Falcon & Alexander.

Allere Collection residents move in as multi-award winning West Village enters its final chapter
Sekisui House Australia recently welcomed residents into Uno and Duo, marking the completion of the penultimate stage of its $1.2 billion West Village precinct in Brisbane’s West End. There are only two opportunities remaining in the two-tower stage known as The Allere Collection. Duo is fully sold out, but two penthouses have just been released in the sister tower Uno.

Balmain & Co appointed builder as construction begins at Excelon Projects’ Yarraville Green
Construction is underway at Yarraville Green, the boutique residential development by Excelon Projects on Stephen Street in Yarraville, following the appointment of Balmain & Co as builder.

View.com.

How one first-home buyer nursed an auction back to life for this $533,000 apartment
The auction of 3/55 Darling Street, South Yarra ended with a first home buyer securing the two-bedroom apartment for $533,000, after a measured contest that ultimately came down to a single determined bidder.

Living in a new development: What’s it really like?
If you’ve never lived in a new development before, it’s completely natural to be curious about what everyday life there might feel like.

Pay-walled

The Australian Financial Review

RBA did the right thing. But the real pain is just beginning
The central bank’s experiment means borrowers face higher mortgage repayments on top of additional cost-of-living pressures imported from the crisis in the Middle East.

The RBA is running out of options as oil surges
It’s not the RBA’s fault that Trump has taken military action against Iran. What absolutely is their fault is that by not tackling inflation properly over the last several years they have dealt away optionality.

Antony Catalano’s St Kilda penthouse for rent at $10,000 a night
Antony Catalano’s lavish Melbourne penthouse is being marketed as a luxury rental at a cost of almost $10,000 a night after months of sitting unsold and as the executive faces domestic violence allegations.

Poaching, wage rises to hit strata as apartments boom
A pick-up in new apartment completions to a five-year high will trigger poaching of staff in a strata sector that already manages 3.2 million residential properties and loses almost as many strata managers each year as it hires, industry figures say.

Softer lending rules tipped to push unit completions to five-year high
New apartment completions will pick up to a five-year high this year as Australia’s big four banks ease terms such as presales requirements and lend more to developers, letting them finish projects sitting on the market, new Charter Keck Cramer figures show.

Disclosing reserve boosted the price of this $750,500 unit
A two-bedroom unit in a complex of four at 4/21-23 Braid Hill Road, Macleod, Victoria. Sold at auction for $750,500.

‘Fear and anxiety’ grips auction market
Australia’s east-coast-dominated housing market is cooling, with more homes being offered for sale at the same time as prospective buyers grow cautious about the cost of living and rising interest rates. As many as 2871 homes were scheduled for auction in the week to Saturday, a 58 per cent increase on the previous week – which included a public holiday in Victoria, South Australia, the ACT and Tasmania – and a 16 per cent increase on the same week a year earlier, Cotality figures showed on Sunday.

What Barangaroo, Brighton East, Paradise Point say about luxury units
Barangaroo has overtaken Milsons Point, Brighton East has beaten Balwyn, and Paradise Point has pushed aside Noosa Heads for the priciest apartments across Australia’s eastern seaboard as luxury apartment sales have almost tripled over the past 10 years.

A $500,000 mortgage at 55: Millennials face grim retirement
Rising property prices, later market entry, and frequent refinancing now extend loan terms well past borrowers reaching their 60s. Grace Terdich bought a home four years ago.

The Australian

Reserve Bank rate rise forces homeowners to scramble for better mortgage deals
A surge in refinancing activity is expected to continue after the Reserve Bank lifted rates for the second consecutive month, with homeowners scrambling to lock in a better mortgage rate. In a move to curb inflation stemming from the Iran conflict and homegrown issues, the RBA lifted rates by 0.25 percentage points on Tuesday, bringing them to their highest level since February 2025.

NSW snubs federal government’s flagship $900m housing bonus scheme
The effectiveness of the Albanese government’s flagship incentive program rewarding states and territories for building more homes in a bid to solve the housing crisis has been criticised by the key jurisdiction tasked with building the most new dwellings.

The Age

Melbourne’s inner-north set for 20 storey towers in high-rise push
High-rise buildings in parts of Melbourne’s inner-north will be able to reach up to 20 storeys under a finalised state government plan to increase housing density near transport hubs.

The smart way home borrowers are dealing with higher interest rates
Home loan borrowers have been factoring in rising interest rates and cost-of-living pressures, pouring record amounts into offset accounts and making excess mortgage payments at the highest level since 2021.

The Brisbane Times

Plans to increase building heights in multiple suburbs divide council
Plans to increase building heights through the heart of Wynnum are one step closer to reality, despite vocal protests from some residents. The development came as new details emerged about similar proposed height changes in Indooroopilly, Carindale and Nundah at a council meeting packed out by residents dressed as clowns.

Towers with hundreds of ‘co-living’ units planned near heart of Fortitude Valley
New towers with hundreds of small apartments for “co-living” are planned for Fortitude Valley. The development fronting 26 Constance Street would comprise 312 one-bedroom units across two buildings up to 15 storeys tall.

The Daily Telegraph

Developer plans three huge towers with 544 new homes for Leppington
A proposal for a mammoth 544-unit complex across three towers and up to 28 storeys in southwest Sydney, is claiming to help address NSW’s worsening housing crisis.

Kellie Sloane on Woollahra Station ‘fantasy’, the state election and why Bondi changed her
The leader of the state Liberal Party has rejected the NIMBY label, claiming the government is ‘in a culture war’ with her electorate when it comes to a contentious plan for 10,000 new homes.

The Herald Sun

Controversial high-rise plan approved for 25 Melbourne suburbs despite backlash
The state government has ticked off on controversial high-rise tower limits for 25 Melbourne suburbs despite huge community backlash, with developers able to kickstart plans for towers of up to 20 storeys within weeks. See the final maps.

Stonnington council slams high-rise plan it says will let developers dodge tax and make housing more expensive
A Melbourne blue-chip council has slammed state government plans to build high rises up to 16 storeys in inner city suburbs as “bureaucratic bulldozing” at the expense of neighbourhood liveability.

Furious residents ignored as developer refuses to front meeting over controversial complex
A Melbourne developer has sparked fury by refusing to meet Brighton East residents over a planned seven-storey complex to replace a luxury car dealership that sells expensive European cars.

Two property taxes blamed for standing in the way of billions of dollars worth of projects in Victoria
Property figures say international investment in Melbourne has dried up as money for key housing, industrial and commercial projects is redirected to Sydney and Brisbane.

The Courier Mail

Height limit tripled as select Brisbane suburbs to skyrocket
Brisbane City Council has proposed dramatically increasing building height limits to three suburbs as part of an anti-sprawl housing strategy.

“Terrifying”: Unit owners fear they could be priced out of upsizing to a house
Married couple Catherine Butt and Stephen Briggs were happy living in a Brisbane apartment for two years – but recently decided to cut costs and buy a house before they could no longer afford it.

The Gold Coast Bulletin

Sherpa Group’s $19m deal paves way for new twin towers in Palm Beach
A major developer has secured a $19m Palm Beach site where twin towers are set to dramatically reshape the suburb’s changing skyline.

Construction begins on 45-storey Broadbeach high-rise as $400m in units sold
Construction begins this month on a $660 million Broadbeach high-rise after developers achieved the rare feat of selling most units before launch.