Victoria’s new auction laws spark ‘chaos’ and confusion

Victoria’s new auction disclosure rules, which started on Thursday following a two-week grace period from October 1, had their first weekend run on Saturday and Sunday. The Victorian government’s new auction laws have been panned as confusing and causing less transparency for buyers, in their first test run this weekend. The criticism comes as the state recorded a preliminary 55.5 per cent clearance rate from 371 early results, according to realestate.com.au. In total, 206 homes sold but 63 were withdrawn from auction this week, while 102 passed in. RELATED: Melbourne auction market worst in years as new laws hit Ben Carroll government pledges foreign investor property tax review Clarinda house smashes suburb record as $2m milestone looms Although some real estate experts said the legislation requiring homeowners to advertise their reserve price seven days before an auction, which kicked in on Thursday following a two-week grace period from October 1, seemed to run smoothly, others were less than impressed. Multi-award winning Melbourne-based auctioneer Andy Reid described the laws as “either an impressive level of incompetence or a blatant vote grab, because of the sheer amount of...