Ray White Surfers Paradise’s Andrew Bell welcomes Queensland legislation changes

CEO of Ray White Surfers Paradise, Andrew Bell, has said that he welcomes the legislation changes in Queensland that will stop price guides being put on auction properties.

Bell said that the state government were right to stamp out the flawed practice, saying that setting price guides did not serve the best interests of buyers.

“Auctions are meant to be presented based on a free market system and this has been recognised by the state government under these legislative changes,” he said.

“People have missed out on properties because of misleading price guides under systems which allow price guides, such as in the southern states where there is a great deal of consumer dissatisfaction.”

Despite this, Consumer Affairs Victoria has recently been in record noting that there are few complaints, while others cannot agree on the severity of the problem in New South Wales or Victoria.

He said that price guides are often not reflective of a property’s selling range.

An amendment does, however, allow electronic listings provider to be given price range information to determine a search criteria – however, only if they are “satisfied” the provider won’t disclose this information.

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