Property Buzz

PropertyBuzz, your daily dose of property news.

Former agency director found guilty of trust account fraud, Major Rental Reforms in WA Kick Off Next Week, and why big houses are becoming more popular despite the cost-of-living crunch

Welcome to Property Buzz! I’m Grace Ormsby

Today is Thursday, 25 July.

A former real estate director has been convicted of 11 offences under the Property and Stock Agents Act, fined $7,200 and given a 15-month intensive corrections order.
– The ex-agent fraudulently converted $940,000 of trust money and kept an additional $280,000 outside a trust account, totaling more than $1,2 million subject to prosecution.
– Claiming her motive was debt control, not profit, NSW Fair Trading said she repaid the trust account by re-mortgaging her home.
– The Fair Trading Commissioner said the prosecution serves as a reminder that trust account fraud will not be tolerated.


– And new rental reforms kick off next week in Western Australian, which will limit rent increases to once every 12 months.
– The changes will also tip pet ownership more into the favour of tenants, subject to landlord’s reasonable conditions and local laws.
– Minor modifications in rental properties, like hanging pictures or installing water-saving shower heads, will also be permitted with landlord’s consent.
– Disputes regarding pets or house modifications will be resolved by the Commissioner for Consumer Protection, ensuring a fast, fair, and transparent process.

– Despite record-high median rents in Australia, renters are seeking larger homes with more bedrooms.
– Homes with five or more bedrooms have seen an 8.7 per cent increase in costs, indicating a rise in share houses and multi-generational households.
That’s because, while the overall cost may increase, the cost per bedroom does decrease with more bedrooms in a home.
– CoreLogic has flagged the trend to larger homes, noting it may spread to cities like Perth and Adelaide due to potential demand from shared households.

That’s Property Buzz for today.

See you again tomorrow, 26 July, for your daily dose.

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