Perth's Property Market Plagued by Duplicate Listing Images: What Officials, Experts and Key Figures Are Saying

Property listings across Perth are increasingly featuring duplicate, recycled or outright misleading photographs, and the bodies responsible for policing real estate advertising say the problem has worsened alongside the city's housing surge. Consumer Protection WA, the state agency that handles complaints about misleading property marketing, has confirmed it is receiving a higher volume of image-related complaints from prospective buyers and renters — though the agency declined to release specific figures ahead of a scheduled review later this month.

The issue carries real stakes in a market running at historically elevated prices. Perth's median house price pushed past $800,000 in early 2026, according to figures published by the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, and buyers making fast decisions in a tight market are increasingly relying on listing photographs as a primary filter before inspections. When those images belong to a different property — or were shot years before a renovation deteriorated — the consequences range from wasted inspection trips to, in some cases, disputed sales contracts.

Who's Flagging the Problem

The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, headquartered on Havelock Street in West Perth, has briefed member agencies on image verification obligations under the state's Code of Conduct for Agents and Sales Representatives. The institute has pointed to the sharp rise in rental listings on platforms such as realestate.com.au and Domain as a structural pressure point — agents managing hundreds of listings simultaneously are more likely to accidentally or deliberately reuse image sets from previous campaigns on the same address.

Researchers at Curtin University's School of Economics Finance and Property in Bentley have been tracking listing data as part of a broader housing affordability project. Their working paper, circulated in May 2026, found that a measurable share of rental listings active in the northern suburbs — including areas around Joondalup and Wanneroo — contained photographs that did not match current property conditions based on satellite and street-level cross-referencing. The paper stopped short of characterising the discrepancy as deliberate deception in most cases, attributing it partly to database errors when agencies migrate listings between platforms.

Consumer advocates are less charitable. The Consumer Credit Legal Service WA, based on William Street in the CBD, has been advising clients that duplicate or misrepresenting images can, in certain circumstances, form the basis of a misleading conduct complaint under the Australian Consumer Law. Advisers there have noted that the burden of proof sits with the complainant, making formal action difficult even when the mismatch between photographs and actual property is obvious at inspection.

What the Surge in Demand Has to Do With It

Perth's population growth — driven in part by interstate migration and overseas arrivals drawn to AUKUS-linked defence jobs at Henderson and Garden Island — has compressed the time buyers and renters spend evaluating listings. Vacancy rates in the northern and southern corridors have been sitting below one per cent for much of 2025 and into 2026, which means prospective tenants are submitting applications before physically viewing properties. That dynamic creates a direct incentive for landlords and agents to present a property in its best-ever condition, regardless of what it looks like today.

The Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety — which oversees Consumer Protection WA — is understood to be finalising updated guidance for agents on image currency and disclosure obligations, with a release expected before the end of the third quarter of 2026. The guidance is expected to recommend that listing images carry a date stamp and that any image more than 12 months old be disclosed as such.

For buyers and renters navigating the current market, advocates say the most practical step is to request the date of listing photographs directly from the agent before committing to an inspection or application. Checking street-level imagery on Google Maps against listing photos — noting the date of the street-view capture — has become a widely shared tip in Perth-based property forums. Those who believe they have been misled can lodge a complaint with Consumer Protection WA at its Forrest Place service centre or online through the agency's portal.