Who isn’t fascinated with property and what the house next door sold for?
The rise of online property portals means it is quite easy for anyone to research a property’s most recent sale price. In many cases, all you have to do is type in the address plus ‘property value’ into Google. You’ll be able to find the most recent sale price, plus the current estimated value.
We all love to know what local houses are worth so we can compare them to our own, however it is understandable to prefer the final sale price of your own property to be kept under wraps.
Many clients ask De Brennan Property how they can keep their sale price confidential. Here’s some of the information we share in regards to this.
Why keep your property sale price confidential?
Having the sale price of your property as common knowledge can feel unsettling, particularly if you are a public figure, if you have a strong professional profile or if you run a large business. It is completely understandable you would not want strangers or acquaintances knowing details about this area of your life.
Often an off-market transaction comes with the request of an undisclosed sale price, again because the seller does not wish to call attention to the fact that they have sold their home.
In some cases, it is the buyer who does not want the final price to be known, more so than the seller. They don’t want the figure they have paid to be easily accessible by the public.
Can you keep your property sale price confidential?
The answer to this question is yes and no.
Many real estate agents issue a press release or a social media update about their latest property sale to attract the next round of sellers. If you would rather the price of your sale is not advertised in this way, you can definitely request discretion from your agent. They can respect your wishes and skip the process of sending an update to their database, or they can mention the sale but say the property went for “an undisclosed sum”.
You can also ask your agent not to publicise the final price of your Mosman home on popular property websites like Domain and realestate.com.au.
However, there is only so much your agent can do when it comes to keeping your property sale price confidential.
When a property sells in NSW, it is mandatory for your agent to share the with the NSW Land Registry Service, which does not deem the sale price to be personal information.
The NSW Land Registry Service (LRS) states that websites displaying property sales prices but not the names of property owners are not in breach of any privacy legislation. The LRS does mention you may contact these websites directly if you want to request they do not show the sale price of your property, however it is their prerogative whether they respond.
Who can see the price of your home?
The information about the value of your property is collected on behalf of Valuation Services. This data is accessed and shared by Australian companies including RP Data, On the House and Propertydata.com.au.
Many of these sites offer access to basic information for free. Real estate agents pay to access the most detailed, up-to-date data, which they use to provide fact-based estimates of property values.
So while your agent can adhere to your wishes and not publicise the price of your sale in the media and through our own communications, we are required to share some figures relating to your sale by law.
You may even find that despite requesting your agent keep a sale price confidential, a site like Domain or realestate.com.au will share the information. They will be able to access it because it is in the public domain.
Unfortunately you can’t be keep the price your home has sold for completely confidential. However, you can always speak with your agent about minimising public knowledge of your sale.
