Perth Residents Speak Out: Duplicate Property Images Are Costing Buyers Time, Money and Trust

The photo shows a bright, renovated kitchen with stone benchtops and a view to a timber deck. It has appeared on at least three separate rental listings in Perth's northern suburbs over the past four months — for properties in different streets, different postcodes, and with different asking rents. None of the listings flagged it.

Duplicate and misappropriated property imagery has become a live complaint lodged with Consumer Protection WA, the state's fair-trading regulator, as Perth's rental and sales vacancy rate sits near historic lows. With demand running hard — fuelled partly by AUKUS-related defence contractor arrivals at Henderson and Stirling Naval Base, and by the state's ongoing resources boom — prospective tenants and buyers say they are showing up to inspections only to find the property looks nothing like the photographs advertised online.

What Community Members Say Is Happening

Perth locals have been describing a consistent pattern across several community forums and Facebook groups dedicated to housing in Balga, Mirrabooka, and the inner southern corridor around Victoria Park. Renters report driving to inspections after scrolling through polished images, only to encounter properties that are visibly older, smaller or in poorer condition than the photographs suggest. In some cases, the photos appear to have been lifted directly from previous listings for the same address — sometimes years-old images showing furniture, gardens or fixtures that no longer exist.

One pattern raised repeatedly involves listings on major platforms including Domain and realestate.com.au, where older, higher-quality photos from a property's previous sale cycle are recycled for a new rental campaign. The practice is not universally illegal, but Consumer Protection WA has made clear in its published guidelines that misleading representations in property advertising — including images that create a false impression of a property's condition — can breach the Australian Consumer Law.

The problem is sharper now because the market gives prospective renters almost no margin for wasted effort. Perth's residential vacancy rate sat at around one percent in the June 2026 quarter, according to REIWA data, meaning the window to inspect and apply for a property closes within days of listing. Applicants who travel to an inspection based on misleading photographs are not just disappointed — they have lost a slot they cannot get back.

Where the Accountability Gap Sits

Real Estate Institute of Western Australia maintains a code of conduct that member agents are required to follow, including obligations around accurate property representation. But enforcement sits with Consumer Protection WA, which operates under the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. Complaints must be lodged individually, and the regulator's published process can take weeks — far too slow to help someone who needed housing last Tuesday.

Community legal organisations including the Tenancy WA advice service, based on Murray Street in the CBD, have reported fielding calls about the issue. The practice also appears in the private sales space: listings in Fremantle and along the Scarborough beachfront corridor have drawn criticism from buyers who say floor plan photographs did not match the property's current layout after renovations or damage.

For people navigating Perth's market right now, advocates suggest several practical steps. Screenshot listing photographs on the day you see them — if the images are removed or swapped before your inspection, that record becomes relevant to any complaint. Cross-check images using a reverse image search before booking an inspection, which can reveal whether the same photo has appeared on earlier listings at different addresses. If a property does not match its photographs in a material way, lodge a formal complaint with Consumer Protection WA using its online portal; the regulator has published guidance confirming that photographic misrepresentation falls within its remit.

The WA state government's Metronet expansion is pushing new residential development corridors through Ellenbrook, Yanchep and Morley, and as those areas attract fresh listings in coming months, housing advocates say the volume of new-to-market imagery will create fresh opportunities for recycled photos to slip through. Industry observers argue the real fix requires the major listing platforms to implement automated duplicate-image detection — the technology exists — rather than leaving individual renters to catch it themselves.