Episode 105: Inflation, Housing Costs & Trust Under Pressure

Hosts Ciaran O’Brien and Peter O’Malley break down the 3.8% CPI print and why housing costs—especially rents and electricity—are doing most of the damage. We explain what a likely 0.25% RBA hike means for prices, buyer sentiment, and negotiations, then turn to NSW’s new name-and-shame register for agents and whether tougher enforcement can rebuild trust in the industry.

We also discuss:

• Headline inflation at 3.8% and the upward trend
• Trimmed mean inflation closer to target, but not enough to reassure the RBA
• Housing as the key CPI driver: rents and electricity in focus
• Why a 0.25% rate hike is likely at the next RBA meeting
• January listings lifting as vendors move earlier than usual
• Buyer sentiment dipping despite APRA buffers and approvals holding
• Stress risk concentrated in households with thin cash buffers
• Uneven impacts of first-home buyer schemes across suburbs
• Migration continuing to support house-and-land demand
• NSW’s name-and-shame register: who it applies to and what offences qualify
• Underquoting incentives versus real consumer harm
• Fee misuse, conflicts of interest, and stricter enforcement ahead
• Practical tactics for pricing, negotiating, and timing decisions in a tighter setting

As always if there is a specific topic you would like for us to cover, please reach out and let us know!    

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to the current mumming conditions numbers podcast. What do you have as realists? Welcome an industry leader, Peter O'Malley, to discuss the current property market condition. Providing some money to assist you on your property journal.

CPI Print And RBA’s Likely Move

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Hello everyone, welcome to another edition of Current Market Insights. I'm your host, Kieran O'Brien, and with me is Mr. Peter O'Malley. Peter, hello, Kieran. Great to see you. Great to see you again, Pete. It's a big day for us in real estate and I guess in finance more broadly. The CPI numbers were released today, and often when these come out, we do sit and try and break down what the numbers are, what they represent, how they might impact the property market, and in some cases, what elements of the CPI basket may have contributed most to those figures. Given that we expected last time we spoke and the time before that, that the CPI numbers may not be in our favour. I thought it might be a good idea tonight for you to take our listeners through what the latest figures are, what you think they represent in terms of the economy more broadly, but in specifics what they represent for the property market, and then we can talk a little bit about what the market's actually doing and where we might go from here.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Yeah, thanks, Kieran. So uh as we know, the RBA's target band of two to three percent for annual inflation. Um was um uh superseded um last year. Um the the inflation rate was sitting above three percent and then began rising um as they cut interest rates. And we've now got inflate the inflation rate back to 3.8% annually. Um that was the quarterly number released on uh Wednesday, January 28th today. And that just simply is too high for comfort. If that's left uh as is, it'll it'll push into the fours and and then it's at risk of being uncontrollable. So yeah, sometimes we do break down the um the data um and and try to you know uh get a sense of what might happen, but it's it's almost universally agreed the RBA will be increasing interest rates next week.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

One of the other figures that we talk about often with the inflationary numbers is the trimmed mean or the underlying inflation. The reports said that it's at 3.3. Now, we have explained in the past, and we won't go over it again, what the difference is between inflation and the underlying inflation. But given that the underlying figures are much closer to the target band, could it could it be reasonable to assume that whilst the inflationary number is quite high, the the trimmed mean is quite close to target, it's maybe not quite as dire uh as some of the media would have you believe.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

You know, really it was a dire number. It was a dire number, and it was a dire number because A, it's too high. The annual in CPI uh is running at 3.8% against a target band of two two to three percent, and uh it's rising, it's the trend. So inflation was coming down for the first uh half uh of 2025, and then it sort of uh bounced around a little bit. But uh uh the numbers since uh November 2025 until today are clearly shown that in inflation has broken out in the economy, and that's that's a surprise to nobody listening.

Housing Costs As Inflation’s Engine

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Oh, certainly not a surprise. In an article I read from the ABC where they talked about the figures, they uh they interviewed a gentleman who talked about uh his rent, the the high cost of rent, and we've often talked about how rent is a major contributor to the CPI basket. Yes, it is. Uh have any of the statements today indicated that that is a major driver of this inflationary surge, or are we looking at other factors in the economy, whether it be the cost of goods and services or you know, import costs? What what do you think, or what what is the uh, I guess, the the position on the major driver of this surge right now?

SPEAKER_02 4:02

Oh well look, the the ABC have a uh a subheading here housing costs the biggest contributor to inflation. So, you know, current market insights property podcast, why are we talking so much about the CPI number and inflation? Because um housing is is the largest contributor to it and uh rising interest rates will inevitably impact the property market. So uh yeah, housing costs driven by electricity and rents were the largest contributor to annual inflation over the past 12 months, the ABS said.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

So the question that's going to be on everyone's lips and and the one that we have speculated on before is what the RBA will do now with this data. It was suggested last time we spoke and and by economists all over the country that a hike was very likely, a rate hike. Uh there may be a pause depending on these figures. Given that the inflation's come in at 3.8, what do you think the likely move is from the RBA uh next Tuesday, I think it is when they meet?

SPEAKER_02 5:00

Oh no, they won't um break um out of anything um anything other than their 0.25% moves. So it'll it'll be a 0.25% hike next Tuesday. Um you asking, would they go more aggressive than that?

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Yeah, I think everyone accepts there's going to be a hike. Yeah. Do you think this inflationary number is high enough to warrant a 0.5% rise?

SPEAKER_02 5:23

No, if it was in the if it was in the fours or the fives, it might be. So they did uh impose three half percentage point um uh increases on on us um during the last hiking cycle in 2022, but inflation at that time was running in the fours and five percent. Yeah, so they really had to get it down quickly. So we're not at that level at the moment, but that's the same reason that they won't sit on their hands and and and and and leave it on hold next Tuesday, because the next shift in inflation, if they leave it unchecked, is into the fours, and that's problematic. 3.8% is really um uh unwelcome. Um, but once you start getting into the fours, you quickly, as we saw last time at the end of COVID, you quickly jump into the fours, the fives, and the six percent annual inflation, and that is highly problematic.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

So given this is a property podcast and we need to work out what the likely impact is, the first thing I want to get a sense from you is prior to the RBA's inflation announcement, over the past say three to four weeks, what have you been seeing in the property market as we've come through the new year? I know we touched on you know the post-Christmas kind of run. Uh, you mentioned that things hadn't really heated up too much yet. Uh, but given that we want to get a sense of where the market might likely go from here, what is the baseline at the moment for you on the ground?

SPEAKER_02 6:51

Oh, look, I think the first trend we saw coming into 2026 was January stock was higher than normal.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Yep.

Sentiment, Serviceability, And Stress

SPEAKER_02 6:58

And uh we can only have a stab in the dark um as to why it was higher than normal. But from other agents that we've been talking to around the city and around the country for that matter, um, a lot of vendors got their property to market in January, which was not seasonally normal because they were trying to get in front of any uh any rate hikes that could be in the offing. I think a lot of those vendors were hoping that the first rate hike would be held back until March, um, which is not going to be the case. Um so they'll probably try to get a sale in before Easter, get a sale in before any rate hike in March, but it it's looking like um the rate hike's gonna come quicker than expected. Um, what will happen next week when they cut rates? Well, it's pretty well tell uh hike rates, I should say. Yep. Uh it's pretty well telegraphed. Um so um some people will trade as normal. Um uh buyers, some buyers will overstate the impact of the interest rate hike on their finances and their ability to uh pay, and that'll be a negotiation tactic. Um, and some vendors will deny the impact of interest rates on the property market. So, what you get there is you get a wider gap between the sellers' expectations and the buyers' expectations because if uh property prices and the ability to pay high prices is is sort of um uh stymied, if you like, due to interest rates rising with the threat of more, um buyers' affordability will drop a bit, um, and and it's the and it's the vendors that don't accept that that uh make life difficult for real estate agents. Those that really want to sell will be able to sell because the economy is too hot and there's plenty of buyers in the market. Buyers that want to buy um will be able to buy because there's plenty of good listings out there at the moment, but there will be an element of buyers and sellers that overstate it for their own purposes.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Given that the average rate change takes roughly six weeks to filter through to the banks from the RBA's decision, will does that have any impact on the buyer sentiment now? Because obviously, you know, by the time they purchase and settle, we're looking at six weeks or beyond. You know, six weeks is usually the standard period. But uh, given that there is that delay, is there likely to be a subtle change in sentiment, or do you think, you know, once the rate announcement is made, people's minds automatically factor that in and begin to, you know, look at the property through the lens of a higher rate?

SPEAKER_02 9:23

Look, you'd like to think that a buyer's decision to purchase is not impacted by a 0.25% hike. Yeah. So I actually don't have any great concern for buyers' ability to perform because of one interest rate hike. Um, you may remember from our podcast in late 2024, where we were talking very openly about uh households and vendors and landlords tapping the mat, you know, coming into this boardroom here where we are today and just flat out saying we can't afford to keep the property. The interest rates is hollowing us out, essentially. Yeah. Um, so I don't have any great from a rate hike, I don't have any great fear for what that means for home buyers. Um we must remember the serviceability test that APRA ensure the banks put buyers through is 3% above what the interest rate of the day is. Yep. So 0.25% plays no role. But there are a lot, there are thousands of households, if not tens of thousands of households uh in Sydney that are precariously uh tight with their finances, and that's who is going to be most impacted from a rate hike from here.

First‑Home Scheme And Migration Demand

SPEAKER_01 10:33

Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that. Uh it was only a few weeks ago I asked you the question about mortgage stress, and we commented on the fact that it had seemed to ease in the market. Uh, but we always reflect on the fact that a rate hold is often similar to a rise for many people. Uh, and now we have a rise in real terms, you know, almost 100% locked in. You never say uh guaranteed, but you know, almost 100% locked in for next week. Uh do you think there is likely to be, as you say, there there are people that are precariously thin. Do you think there is likely to be an increase in distress sales as we move into the next cycle?

SPEAKER_02 11:06

Uh not not instantly. So let's go back to the rate cuts um that we saw in 2025. Uh again, we were saying on this podcast that what was happening with the rate cuts last year is the RBA would cut, there'd be a relief rally for four or five weeks, and then that activity in the market would wash off like nothing happened. Now, the first two rate cuts last year um were superseded by events. So you might remember they cut rates, but then there was the cyclone up in Queensland, and then Trump went uh crazy with his first round of tariffs that spooked the market, and people said who cares about a 0.25% um uh rate cut when Donald Trump, the the new newly um elected president, you know, who's just been sworn in, is behaving like this. We got through all of that and we've got everything stabilized again. Um, and then they cut rates in uh in May after the federal election, of course. Uh and again, that that washed off after a couple of weeks um because it was superseded by events. So the what I'm saying here is I would encourage people to see this rate forthcoming rate hike and its impact on the property market through two lenses. The first is sentiment. There will be negative sentiment that pervades for a week or two, and then we get on with life and people don't think about it. So there'll be a sentiment hit. Um, the the question you've asked about is our households going to be impacted to the degree that we start seeing some distress selling again? I I hope not, but that's more of a structural thing. You don't sell a house because you get spooked by a 1.25% rate hike, but you do sell a property because you're structurally compromised financially and you've got to reluctantly let it go. Um, and that will take time to feed through the system, and it'll probably take more than one rate hike.

Name‑And‑Shame Register Explained

SPEAKER_01 13:02

No, very, very fair point. My final question on this topic, then, Peter, uh, and I've been asking you this plenty of times since October 1st. But given that the the first homeowners scheme has now been in effect for a little while, we have talked about just last week how it's had quite a strong impact on the the vendors' bottom line. You know, it's been quite productive for the vendors. Do you think that given this rate, uh, sorry, given this inflationary period, uh, is obviously looking at the inflation period for the year, not just the last quarter. But do you think that that scheme has had any impact on pushing the housing price? I I know they mentioned housing, but is it big enough at that end of the market to really nudge the dial?

SPEAKER_02 13:39

Look, in in Balmain, it's very hard to make a call on that because we don't sell too much of that product. And and late late last year we were selling inner city apartments, and that's a really soft market, as we said in our talking property segment with Louis Christopher, the inner city apartment market's not particularly strong. Whereas then we were selling apartments in suburbs like Ashfield, Dullich Hill, um uh Forest Lodge that are going absolutely crazy. Some and and and they were driven by first home buyers. Um I I don't wish to um uh uh racially profile, but um I did speak to a real estate agent in regional New South Wales yesterday, and I said just you you he basically can't get enough stock to sell. And this is a town where I have spoken to this agent uh on and off over the years about his market and uh what he's seeing, and there's many times where it's been flat as. And um in January he was telling me he'd listed two properties but sold eight in January, yeah. In not a coastal town that's holiday makers, we're talking, you know, not too far from Canberra, run of the mill. And I was like, is it the first home buyers doing it? And he said, No, um, it's it's it's it's the immigration. He said, Um, lots of Nepalese and Indians uh are now in the community, they like the community, and they are the buyers driving the property market up. And um I I I tell people uh about the sales that we did in Blacktown and and Quakers Hill last year, and again, they those sales were hyper competitive, far stronger than anything that I experienced in the inner city um last year, and all of that, both of those sales in Blacktown and Quakers Hill were were were driven um by by the Indian community, for example. Um so what is showing up here is the Indian community, like the house and land package in the suburbs or regional town centres, generally speaking, um the when the Chinese were very, very active in uh that sort of 2010-2015 um era, uh, they were very much for um uh you know iconic trophy uh homes and and and high-quality apartments in the inner city. Um so we come back to that same chestnut that we were talking about last year, is there's not enough houses and there's too much housing demand with you know with the immigration numbers.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

Yeah, and unfortunately, as we have said repeatedly, our government is all talk and very very little action. Uh that's a perfect segue then, Peter. One of the the very minimal action points that uh Premier Mins has actually taken uh a stance on is and relates to agents in the property market. Uh we spoke last year about the evolving case uh in Western or sort of western Sydney, uh the outer suburbs again, right? Quakers Hill, yeah. I wasn't going to name the suburb, but uh in Quakers Hill, where a very well-known agent uh had come afoul or uh you know come under the attention of fair trading for some of his practices, which then has opened a broader discussion around underquoting agents' behaviours, uh, you know, a whole range of things that you certainly have talked about and we have discussed.

Underquoting, Fees, And Compliance

SPEAKER_02 16:50

Yeah, so it should be uh it should be noted that he he he's um only he he but he is only suspended at this stage, where before Christmas I I found this really interesting, if not alarming, but there was a real estate agent on on the North Shore that was struck off for five years for not disclosing defects in the strata. Yeah. You know, that's that's heavy-handed. Today in New South Wales, a uh uh a strata manager was struck off as being a real estate agent for um for for spending strata funds.

SPEAKER_01 17:23

I mean, uh this all sounds like excellent progress, right? But it is as as you say, it's a little bit heavy-handed for one agent, maybe not so much for the other. Uh, regardless, what is happening in the space is obviously continuing to evolve, and I think there is a lot more to be done. But I want to talk about Chris Mins' name and shame register. Yep. Uh firstly, I'd love for you to just tell our listeners what it is, you know, obviously beyond the name itself, what it is likely to provide, and who really it's going to benefit in the space.

SPEAKER_02 17:51

Yeah, look, uh real estate agents who've been fined or had their license cancelled or suspended will be named and shamed on a public register as the Min government moves to clean up the real estate industry. Uh, with thousands of complaints being made to New South Wales Fair Trading about real estate agents, the government hopes the name and shame list will enable home buyers and renters to conduct their own background checks before signing contracts or leases. Um the register will identify real estate agents and strata managers who commit serious statutory breaches, including pricing misconduct, falsified documentation, fee misuse, safety and insurance failures, undisclosed conflicts, withholding information, and obstruction of regulatory efforts. So that's all sanitized dry dialogue about what it is that they've identified they'll be chasing, but there's a meaning behind each and every one of those bullet points.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

You mentioned that the purpose or the government's intention for the uh register is to allow tenants and/or purchasers or whatever, or anyone engaging a real estate agent to do their own background checks. I guess my my first question for you, as an agent, what's your gut feel on this register? Do you think that it will actually uh there's two parts. Do you think it will be beneficial? Uh and secondly, do you think that the agency looking after it, which I assume is fair trading in this case, uh, do you think that they will actually maintain the list well enough that it has any utility?

Conflicts, Enforcement, And Consumer Trust

SPEAKER_02 19:25

Uh look, um, when I first heard about it, I thought, I hope this is I I I I just hope that there's not scapegoats out of this. I hope if there's serious breaches and people deserve to be named, shamed, and identified, so be it. But I I hope they're not going to corner, you know, some junior um or or or some near retiree agent and make an example of them uh to uh make a fall guy. Yeah, a full guy to to to send a message to the rest of the industry. So when they intro it when they outlawed um uh dummy bidding for example in the early two thousands. Um they went down and and and caught um some near retirement probably should have been retired real estate agent said you've been dummy bidding you're the first person to get caught for dummy bidding under the new laws and put him on the on the six o'clock news on all three commercial channels and you know really paraded him as the full guy and this is what'll happen to you too if you're using dummy bidders that was enough in fairness to stop the industry but um I I cannot imagine the poor real estate agent or his family felt that was a justified handling of um him doing something that the broader industry was doing. I'm not suggesting that dummy bidding is um uh uh a permissible action but I just felt that it was grossly unfair at that time um that that fellow was singled out like that when it was rampant across the industry. Um how will consumers act to this well look um uh the first one of the first points they said here is pricing misconduct what is pricing misconduct well that's underquoting yeah so that's where the agent knows that the reserve price is 2.8 and they go out and tell the buyers an auction guide of 2.2 or 2.1 and um they know it's going to go to 2.8 but they leave it at that because they want to have a hyper competitive auction vendors um are complicit in this strategy to some degree and I always ask the question why do real estate agents underquote and people go I don't know why do real estate agents underquote because it works it attracts multiple buyers to the auction and then they've got a competitive situation. So um uh if a consumer sees that their uh shortlisted real estate agent um has been fined um or or um uh you know you obviously you can't use them if they've been suspended but if they are on the name and shame register for underquoting um I but the the consumer otherwise likes that agent I think they'll still use them. Yeah well if if it works it works right because they're whether it's legal or not the the vendors are already I know this is a really uncomfortable point for a lot of people vendors are already complicit in the underquoting story. Yeah because they're letting their real estate agent advertise their house for 20% below what they know the reserve price is in the name of drumming up interest. Where if we go to the other one that Joss Teslan's been accused of which is fee misuse and for those that weren't listening last year he was stands accused he's only suspended but he stands accused of telling a vendor that on a Monday night that he has no interest in their home for the Saturday auction but if they're prepared and this is the short version if they're prepared to supercharge his commission he's prepared to take his entire sales team off working over every other property and put the entire sales team working exclusively on their property to ensure they get an acceptable result on Saturday and he said to the vendors the best offer that we've got at the moment on your property is 1.3 million if you're prepared to give me 10% above 1.5 million I think the number was I will I will get the entire sales team working between now Monday night and Saturday's auction on your property.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

They clearly needed to sell I can't be sure I didn't have all of the facts they agreed to this uh commission structure very late in the game um the auction uh unsurprisingly uh sailed through 1.5 million not only did they have to pay the original decent hefty commission but they now fell into the category of of of being stung with a super sized commission and uh when these vendors went to congratulate the uh successful buyers um of their home the buyer said oh we loved your home we saw it on the first inspection there was no way we weren't going to buy it yeah and it was at that point that the vendor realized um they'd been stung that's what they're referring to that sort of behavior when we talk about um incentive schemes or kickers as we've discussed in the past I think if you got named and shamed for fee misuse along those uh uh uh uh along those lines and that uh that went through a real estate agent's local community I don't think they'd get another listing yeah it's interesting uh I guess I've got a couple of questions for you one going back to the fact that agents uh end up on this register and I liken it in many ways uh obviously different kind of scales but I liken it to you know the medical register you can look up your doctors and things and make sure that they're registered you can also look if they've been investigated for things and you can get a sense you know as a consumer or a patient potentially whether you want to use them for things. But I had that same thought I wonder how many people think well you know they're very skilled and it's it's tough to find someone so I'm going to use them anyway. In real estate you know I think there is that potential that they'll still use an agent if they're getting results regardless of how unethical it is.

SPEAKER_02 25:05

I just go to Charlie Tio he's struck off right yeah in Australia in Australia yeah but I I I know people that have got on an airplane to go and get operated on by Charlie Tio of course in a jurisdiction where he can he can operate yeah yeah and and obviously as I say they're different scales but uh I I agree with you that I think people will use an unethical but successful agent in some cases my first question for you is given that this this register can be quite damning uh as you say depending on what the reason is are there safeguards in place that you know of for agents who feel like they may have been wrongfully placed on the register uh look they're they're serious breaches so unlikely to be an accidental uh admission is that we all say um look i everyone is is uh entitled to the presumption of of innocence uh until proven uh otherwise so um uh you know we've had people complain to us uh about us through fair trading about underquoting and and we have not been charged with underquoting let me be clear about that but we have been investigated yeah for for underquoting to make sure that everything's been done as it should be and um uh and and this is several times over 10 years because a buyer really likes a home multiple buyers like the same home it sells above expectations the person who buys the home thinks you're the greatest real estate agent in the world and the underbuilders are filthy and they want retribution generally speaking um so over the years I have seen how uh Department of Fair Trade have investigated uh underquoting and their current strategy of investigating uh underquoting is uh three times more exhaustive and detailed than it used to be say 10 years ago. Ten years ago it someone would ring up and ask a few questions and nearly take your side if I can say that um to sort of you know get this pesky consumer on on their way because there's nothing to see here and at that stage Department of Fair Trade didn't really have a capacity to to enforce a penalty of any note.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

Where we haven't had a um investigation um of a file for 12 months but when we did 12 months ago it it was a lot of work a lot of paperwork that they were asking for they were really doing an x-ray on the situation they reserved the right to inspect the office and physically inspect the file if they choose to and I said to the team I wouldn't want to get too many of these not because I'm worried about the way we're behaving it's the work involved yeah it's compliance you know on steroids do you think that given the fair trading's shown much more interest in fixing the underquoting issue and age of behaviors more broadly that they are likely to take a more active role in this list or do you think it's still like you say Josh Tesselin's case came about primarily because the vendors found an anomaly and reported it do you think fair trading will also increase their uh independent supervision of of what's happening in the market which we've touched on they already are because they're charging significantly higher fines and that's what's funding the task force.

SPEAKER_02 28:20

Yeah so yes absolutely real estate agents have to change the real estate industry have to change their mode of operation or they're going to end up on on this list there's no doubt. And as I say there's some breaches um where people go yeah well they all do that i.e underquoting yeah and then there's other things like fee misuse or fiddling with the trust account where people say man never touch that guy again my my final question for you on this topic is if someone if an agent has committed an infraction bad enough to get on this list why are they still allowed to practice? Why is the default not they lose their registration they lose the ability to be an agent because of some major infraction and then they go on the well they are let's go back to the opening line on the article real estate agents who've been fined or had their license cancelled or suspended as I said today the strata manager who took two million dollars for their own personal enjoyment and benefit they've they've been scratched the uh real estate agent um who uh uh uh is accused or basically charged of knowingly concealing serious defects in a strata property was cut out you know it's cancelled for five years before Christmas um there's an example I think it's in Melbourne at the moment of a very high profile real estate agent that was buying uh his clients' properties um tarting them up and and reselling them classic insider trading yeah um undisclosed conflicts is a massive area that is really hard to police but goes on every day in the real estate industry developers come in and say Kieran if you can help me get this one um I'll do I'll do the build I'll do the duplex I'll do the renovation and I'll give it back to you to sell suddenly Kieran has got a$50,000 or$100,000 incentive to run soft on the campaign with his vendor who might be going into a nursing home because he's going to get paid for that but hey if he if he helps uh Joe Bloggs get the property he's gonna get the resale of the duplexes when they're built that's really hard to police but that goes on every day in the real estate industry I can tell you.

SPEAKER_01 30:32

Yeah yeah look I accept all of that but I still I still maintain that question you know if it's bad enough to make the register why why why do they all just lose their registration?

SPEAKER_02 30:40

You know the underquoted the insider trade like whatever it is I I fully accept that there are some cases where they are cancelled or suspended but my my gut tells me uh that people might prefer or appreciate that if they're on this list for a major reason they shouldn't be practicing anyway uh which in some ways would make the list somewhat futile but look you again we've got to go look at at what they're saying puts you on the list you commit a serious statutory breach uh which is pricing misconduct underquoting falsifying documentation well you wouldn't want to be done for that fee misuse which is the incentive scheme we just discussed uh safety and insurance failures they can be oversights maybe there's an area there where you don't deserve to lose your real estate license for that maybe you do uh undisclosed conflicts well having an undisclosed conflict is different to taking advantage of that conflict isn't it it is but I guess you're not gonna be reported unless you take advantage right like no one's gonna say you've just you just have an undisclosed conflict it has to be exploited a great question I get whenever I'm negotiating on a vendor's property and I talk about the buyer sale of their property which is going to fund the purchase and how it all interconnects I love when vendors say to me ask ask me or one of our agents are you selling their property or or are you going to get their listing? That's a great question to ask because that's the vendor subconsciously exploring for a conflict of interest. Yeah. Should ask those questions more often.

Final Thoughts And Sign‑Off

SPEAKER_01 32:12

No look it's true. I uh look it's a really interesting topic I I will be eager to see what happens here. I can't help but think that one it'll not be all that accurate and two knowing the government it'll be incredibly difficult to access and gain any information from so it is going to be an interesting one to see as it moves forward. But you know as we've talked on this topic a lot I am hopeful that the industry will get a little bit of uh fear in them a little bit scared about these wrong behaviours because it is a problem and it's the clients who usually lose out but as always it's been a good chat today Peter I really appreciate appreciate you coming in to talk with our our listeners. Yeah pleasure thanks Kieran thank you and thanks to everyone for listening to Current Market Insights we look forward to speaking with you next time.

SPEAKER_00 32:56

Thanks for joining us on the Current Market Insights Pop Cummers to you on the pumpless realistically the popcorn must provide realistically insights you won't find anywhere else