Shire Property Price Guides Now So Meaningless They’re Being Considered for the Fiction Section at Sutherland Library

Sandy Shores | Editor-in-Chief | Sutherland Shire Gazette

21 November 2025

In a move surprising absolutely no one who has attended an auction in the last decade, Sutherland Library staff have reportedly begun quietly reclassifying real-estate price guides as “creative writing,” shelving them between fantasy novels and the more optimistic self-help titles.

The shift follows the NSW government’s announcement that agents who under-quote can now face fines of up to $110,000 - a figure many Shire buyers say is “still cheaper than the gap between the guide and the final sale price.”

Local librarians say the decision to move price guides into fiction was “inevitable.” “People were already treating them like short stories,” one whispered. “Very imaginative, lots of world-building, zero connection to reality.”

Residents agree. One Grays Point dad told the Sutherland Shire Gazette he’d stopped reading guides entirely because “anything listed at $1.2m inevitably sells for $1.95m plus a kidney.” Another Caringbah mum likened the experience to “reading the first chapter of a book that lies to your face.”

Real-estate agents, however, insist the guides are “based on market feedback,” a phrase widely understood to mean “created using interpretive dance and hope.”

Buyers say the new NSW fines have done little to restore trust. “I saw a house listed for $1 million plus,” said one baffled first-home buyer. “It sold for $2.1 million. That’s not under-quoting - that’s satire.”

Auction culture remains unchanged, with bidders describing the experience as “speed dating, but financially violent.” Several Shire residents now attend auctions purely for the adrenaline.

Meanwhile, Sutherland Library has confirmed it is considering a dedicated Real Estate Fiction shelf, positioned between Fantasy Epics and Adult Colouring Books.

“It just feels right,” a staff member said. “Some people read Lord of the Rings. Others read property guides. Both involve quests, disappointment, and unattainable homes.”

NSW underquoting property price guide