Victorian Auction Reserve Price Rules From 1 October 2026

What Changes on 1 October

The Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 amends the Estate Agents Act 1980. Under the change, an agent must request the seller's reserve price in writing and publish it as a single dollar amount in the Property Price Statement, for at least seven days before an auction or fixed-date sale. An agent who has not met that requirement is not permitted to conduct the sale.

The final sale price is also to be made public, building on the same transparency reforms.

There is a transitional arrangement for sales held shortly after commencement, and industry bodies are still seeking clarity from regulators on how mid-campaign reserve changes will be handled. If you are in a live campaign over that period, your agent or conveyancer is the right person to confirm how it applies to your sale.

Reserve Price and Price Guide Are Not the Same Thing

This is the distinction most buyers get wrong, and it matters more now that both numbers are public.

The price guide in a Statement of Information is the agent's estimate of value, based on comparable sales. It is an indication, not a commitment.

The reserve price is the minimum the seller is prepared to accept. Below it, the property does not sell at auction. From 1 October, you will see that number a week before you have to decide anything.

What It Means if You Are Buying

Until now, you found out the reserve when the auctioneer announced the property was on the market, after you had already paid for an inspection, a contract review and possibly a valuation. If the reserve turned out to be well beyond your limit, that money was gone.

From October, the sequence reverses. You will know the seller's minimum before you commit to due diligence, which means you can spend your inspection budget on properties you can actually buy.

That makes the seven days between publication and auction day the window that matters. It is enough time to book an inspection, get a written report and have a conversation about what the findings mean before you raise your hand. See what a pre-purchase building inspection covers, and what it costs on our pricing page.

The Seven-Day Window Is Your Inspection Window

We inspect across Melbourne and issue a clear written report, usually within 24 hours of attending. If you are working to an auction date, we will also give you a verbal summary the same day, so you are not waiting on paperwork to make a decision.

Book as soon as the reserve is published rather than in the last few days before the auction. Saturday auction weeks fill quickly, and the earlier you have the report, the more room you have to get a repair quote or a second opinion on anything the inspection turns up.

What It Means if You Are Selling

Your reserve becomes public, in writing, a week before auction day, and it cannot be quietly adjusted on the morning based on the size of the crowd.

That puts more weight on the condition of the property. Buyers will arrive at the auction already knowing your minimum, so anything a buyer's inspector finds mid-campaign lands with more force than it used to. A surprise report a few days out is harder to absorb when the number you will accept is already on the table.

The way to protect against it is to know what a buyer's inspector will find before you set the reserve, not after. A pre-sale assessment gives you that: what is there, what it is likely to cost to put right, and what you can reasonably leave alone.