LEADING real estate agents have agreed that underquoting is rife in the Victorian property market.
Several prominent agents, valuers and advocates who spoke at a public forum on underquoting last week were divided in their approach to solving the controversial issue.
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But all agreed more must be done to put a stop to it.
Consumer Affairs Victoria and the Real Estate Institute of Victoria were slammed by some industry professionals and accused of not controlling underquoting sufficiently.
Keatings Real Estate director John Keating organised the forum to debate his proposal to make publishing reserve prices before to auctions mandatory.
He expressed disappointment at the lack of unity in the industry to solve underquoting.
"Both Consumer Affairs Victoria and the REIV ... have been impotent to adequately control underquoting and overquoting practices by many estate agents and their sales representatives," Mr Keating said.
Mr Keating's proposal for legislative change to force agents to publish reserve prices before auction left panellists at the forum divided but sparked debate over other ways to improve transparency in the Victorian auction system.
Qualified accountant and real estate agent Mark Armstrong proposed all auction results be made available publicly, a recommendation supported by many.
"Real estate auction transactions must be treated in the same way as our share market counterparts and that is with full disclosure of auction results," Mr Armstrong said.
"I propose that all public auction results be made public information and freely available to all purchasers.
"This way buyers can research recent sale results and form their own informed opinion about where the market lies."
REIV spokesman Robert Larocca said the advisory body did not support publishing reserve prices before auctions but it spent hundreds of thousands of dollars collecting and providing sales results for the public each week.
"The operation of the market could be improved by greater information (being available) about the current laws and greater information about recent sales so consumers can make their own decisions about what a home may or may not be worth to them," Mr Larocca said.
A Consumer Affairs Victoria spokeswoman said the regulatory body monitored the industry to detect underquoting and "any changes to legislation would have to be demonstrated to improve the auction process for the benefit of all participants, for buyers and sellers".
The Victorian Government said it was looking "at a range" of options to strengthen protection for buyers at auction including banning "price-plus" advertising.
