Duplicate Images in Property Listings Are Costing Perth Sellers: What Officials, Experts and Key Figures Are Saying

Perth's property listing crisis has a mundane face: the same photograph of a Balga bathroom appearing on three separate homes for sale, or a stock image of a Cottesloe beachfront used to dress up a Thornlie unit. Duplicate and mismatched listing images have become a growing headache for buyers, sellers and agencies operating across the metropolitan area, and those close to the sector say the problem is no longer trivial.

The issue has sharpened in 2026 as the WA capital's housing demand continues to outpace supply. Immigration-driven population growth, accelerated by workers flowing into AUKUS-linked defence contracts at HMAS Stirling in Garden Island, has pushed rental and sales volumes to levels not seen in over a decade. When stock moves fast, corners get cut — and image quality control is often the first casualty.

What the Agencies and Platforms Are Saying

Real estate professionals operating out of offices along Hay Street and the St Georges Terrace corridor have privately flagged the problem to industry bodies for months. The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, which represents licensed agents across the state, has fielded complaints from both consumers and member agencies about misleading or recycled photography in online listings. The institute has not yet issued a formal advisory, but those familiar with its internal discussions say guidance is being drafted for the second half of 2026.

Technology vendors supplying listing management software to Perth agencies describe the root cause as automation without adequate checks. When a property database is updated at speed — sometimes dozens of listings per day through platforms connected to realestate.com.au and Domain — image files can be duplicated, mis-tagged or pulled from previous listings without a human reviewing the result. One major software supplier circulated an internal technical note to WA clients in May 2026 acknowledging the error rate in bulk image uploads had increased alongside transaction volumes. The note, reviewed by The Daily Perth, did not attach a specific figure to the error rate.

Consumer advocacy groups have also weighed in. The Consumer Protection division of WA's Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety has statutory responsibility for real estate conduct under the Real Estate and Business Agents Act 1978. Industry observers note that the Act's existing misrepresentation provisions are broad enough to cover deliberately deceptive image use, though enforcement against automated errors is far murkier. A spokesperson for the department confirmed to The Daily Perth that complaints related to property advertising imagery had been received in the 2025-26 financial year but declined to provide a specific number, citing ongoing assessment.

What Buyers on the Ground Are Experiencing

Buyers attending open homes in the northern suburbs — particularly in Balga, Mirrabooka and Girrawheen, where entry-level properties have drawn intense competition — describe the mismatch between online images and physical reality as a regular frustration. A home advertised with photographs showing a modern kitchen renovation may arrive at a 1970s original. That gap, when it stems from a duplicate image error rather than deliberate deception, still wastes time for buyers already stretched by a market where median house prices in Perth passed $780,000 in early 2026, according to figures published by the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia in its March 2026 quarterly report.

Metronet's ongoing rail expansion is adding new suburbs to buyers' consideration lists, pushing transaction activity further from the traditional inner ring. That geographic spread makes consistent image standards harder to police from a single agency office.

For sellers, the stakes are equally concrete. An incorrectly populated listing can suppress enquiry or attract complaints that delay settlement. In a market moving at this pace, a week's delay carries real dollar consequences.

Industry voices are converging on the same practical answer: human review checkpoints before any listing goes live, regardless of how automated the backend workflow is. Agencies are being advised to assign a staff member — not an algorithm — final sign-off authority on image sets, particularly for properties listed under the $600,000 mark where bulk processing is most common. Buyers, meanwhile, are being told to treat online images as indicative only and to request a video walkthrough or independent inspection before making offers. The listings technology will catch up eventually. The market, unfortunately, is not waiting.