Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
- What is the Home Price Guide®?
- How much do Home Price Guides cost?
- How does the Home Price Guide® Property Report
work?
- How up to date are the Home Price Guide®
Reports?
- How much descriptive detail do the reports
have?
- What is the difference between the Postcode Report
and the Street Report?
- Can we buy the report in newsagencies or shops?
- Do I get weekly/monthly updates?
- How can I pay for my Home Price Guide Report®?
- How are the Home Price Guide® Reports
delivered?
- I have received a Tax Invoice but I haven't
received my product?
- Where do we get our data?
- Do you have data for every property in
Australia?
- What is the difference between a median price and
average price?
- How is the Current Market Price Estimate
calculated in a Property Report?
- (SA only) What do the abbreviations stand for in
my Home Price Guide® Report?
- How accurate is the data that APM collects?
- How are the Market Price Trends on the APM Home
Price Guide Reports calculated? Calendar year, Financial year?
- What and how is the Long Term Trend
calculated?
- How do I edit my details and password on my
subscription?
- Is private information such as Property Owner's or
Tenant's name available?
- Are the Home Price Guide Postcode Report and
Street Report available in Excel format?
SMS Questions
- What is 19 SMS HPG (19 767 474)?
- How does 19 SMS HPG work and what address format do I
use?
- What is the SMS number ?
- How much does 19 SMS HPG cost?
- Do I need to register to use 19 SMS HPG?
- What states are covered by 19 SMS HPG?
- What do I do if I am not satisfied with the SMS HPG
service?
- How do I get a refund for an SMS I have received?
- What happens when a property is listed as For Sale?
- Tips for using 19 SMS HPG
Property Pro Questions
- Is there a free trial available for Property
Pro, before I make my full purchase?
- How far back does the historical data provided
by Property Pro go?
- Can I receive a refund if I choose to terminate
my Property Pro subscription before the three month term has expired?
- How do I log into my Property Pro
subscription?
- How do I retrieve my username and password?
- What is the difference between the Postcode
Report and the Property Pro subscription?
- Why am I unable to subscribe to Property Pro
for a postcode in Victoria or Western Australia?
General Questions
1. What is the Home Price Guide®?
Home Price Guide® has been serving Australia's homebuyers, sellers, investors
and real estate professionals for more than 15 years. The Home Price Guide®
Property Reports are intended to provide independent and up to date property
sale price information (actual individual property sales) and analysis to allow
you to make better informed real estate decisions.
We have reports covering every state and territory in Australia.
You can choose from the following tailor-made Home Price Guide®
reports:
| Report Name |
Coverage |
Description |
| Postcode Report |
Postcode(s) Sales History |
Lists the prices paid by private treaty and auction in the postcode(s)
of your choice over the past 12 or 24 months. Longer reports are also
available upon request. |
| Street History
Report |
Street Sales History |
Lists the reported history of prices paid by private treaty and
auction in the street of your choice. Length of report varies from state
to state but generally covers 10 years. |
| Property Report |
Individual house or unit |
Includes the reported sales history of an individual property; market
analysis of the surrounding area; recent comparable sales; and a
statistically-generated current market price estimate of the property.
|
| Property Pro |
Postcode(s) |
Gives you online subscription access to ongoing and updated property
sale prices and all our sales data for your subscription area. Plus
additional online sorting and search functions. Min. 3 month
subscription. |
| Last Sold Prices by
SMS |
Individual house or unit |
Receive an SMS featuring the details of when a property was last sold
and the price paid. If we do not have a record of the last sale, you'll
receive a mini-snapshot for the suburb | |
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2. How much do Home Price Guides cost?
All the Home Price Guides are keenly priced - particularly given the amount
of detail we try to include. In fact, our customers have told us they would be
great value even if all you got was the address and the price. In fact, you get
much more. This is a very small outlay to help ensure you come out of the
property market a winner. As well, great discounts are available on multiple
purchases -the more reports you order the cheaper each one is.
All the prices, including discounts, are listed on the product pages. Or
follow the Buy Now links info from the homepage.
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3. How does the Home Price Guide® Property
Report work?
What's your home worth? Home Price Guide® Property Report is ideal for
homebuyers, sellers and investors (or lenders) or homeowners looking for a
comprehensive price profile on a particular property. Each report includes a current market price estimate (as used by some of
Australia's largest financial institutions) plus any reported sales history on
the property (where available), statistical price data, historic median price
movements, auction clearance rates, a list of nearby comparable sales and
more!
Used in conjunction with your local market knowledge (including the
particular features of the property), it will tell you how "your" property
compares to others in the neighbourhood. It is perfect for home owners looking
to find out what your home might be worth (and to calculate how much equity you
might have) as well as for homebuyers and sellers.
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4. How up to date are the Home Price Guide®
Reports?
They are as up to date as our far-reaching data sources allow. The Home Price
Guide® Reports include data obtained from a variety of sources - real estate
agents, state governments, real estate advertisements (print and electronic) and
our own auction reporters. The sales data can be divided largely into two
types:
- Auction results - this is the most up-to-the-minute sales data available.
Australian Property Monitors is Australia's only specialist national monitor
of auction results. Each month we track about 5,000 auction results around the
country. These are entered into our Home Price Guide® database daily. If a
property was auctioned we generally have the results on the day or within 2-3
days.
- Private Treaty or Private Sales - while we receive some private treaty
sales via exclusive arrangements with real estate agents, the vast majority of
these are supplied by the state-based Valuers General or equivalent. In most
instances, these sales are provided within 6-10 weeks from the date of
settlement of the sale. (In Victoria, these can take longer to come through -
which makes our auction monitoring there even more important.) And rest
assured, as soon as we get them we wash, scrub and cross check them so that
you get them as quickly and cleanly as possible.
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5. How much descriptive detail do the reports
have?
In SA and WA (where the government data is very detailed) there is something
on just about every property. However, we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars
each year on gathering descriptive information from every source we can find to
enhance the base government data we receive.
In fact, we already have more descriptive data than you will find anywhere
else online and the detail is growing all the time.
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6. What is the difference between the Postcode
Report and the Street Report?
The Postcode Report lists the sales history for the postcode or postcodes of
your choice for 12 or 24 months. The Street Report lists all the reported sales
in a specific street (up to 20 years in some cases).
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7. Can we buy the report in newsagencies or
shops?
No. The Home Price Guide® Reports are generated as you order them ensuring
you get the latest and most up-to-date information available. They can be
purchased directly via www.homepriceguide.com.au or through our network of
distributors. Or call 1 800 817 616.
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8. Do I get weekly/monthly updates?
The 3 Month Subscription gives you the advantage of 3-month online
subscription access to ongoing and updated property sale prices and 24 months of
historic sale prices in the postcode or postcodes of your choice. Plus,
additional online sort and search functions that allow you to tailor your own
geographic searches and sort the results by address, price, sales date and type
of property.
Real estate agents, and other real estate professionals, should enquire about
our online subscription product APM Property Data.
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9. How can I pay for my Home Price Guide
Report®?
You can pay using credit card online or over the phone.
We accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards.
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10. How are the Home Price Guide® Reports
delivered?
The Home Price Guide® Reports are generated automatically upon order. When
you order online the reports are supplied straight to your computer screen in
real computer time and, if you opt for email delivery, also by email (as html
documents) to your nominated email address. This shouldn't ever take more than
half an hour (and generally happens straight away!!)
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11. I have received a Tax Invoice but I haven't
received my product?
All reports are attached to the Tax Invoice you receive in your email. For
Property Pro your login details are included in the Tax Invoice.
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12. Where do we get our data?
The Home Price Guide® Reports include data obtained from a variety of sources
- real estate agents, state governments, real estate advertisements (print and
electronic) and our own auction reporters. Private treaty sales come from the
state-based Valuers-General or equivalent in each state as well as real estate
agents who report their results to us.The auction results are obtained directly
from the auctioning agent by our own researchers and monitors.
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13. Do you have data for every property in
Australia?
In some areas we have limited information available. If the property report
you are interested in does not have sufficient data to provide a price estimate,
you will receive a warning message as well as an option to purchase the report
at a discounted price. You can opt out of purchasing the report by removing it
from your shopping cart.
If you accept the discounted price by entering and submitting your credit
card details, you are agreeing that the report may have limited information and
that no refunds are available.
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14. What is the difference between a median price
and average price?
Median is the middle price when all prices are sorted from lowest to highest;
the average price is the price calculated by adding up all the prices and then
dividing by the number of sales.
Median is used more widely because it lessens the impact that one or two
unrepresentative or uncharacteristically high or low prices can have on the
analysis. It generally provides the more accurate picture. For instance, if five
properties sell, one for $5,000,000, one for $3,000,000, one for $700,000, one
for $450,000 and one for $260,000, then the median price is $700,000 but the
average price is $1,882,000.
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15. How is the Current Market Price Estimate
calculated in a Property Report?
The Home Price Guide® Property
Report will provide you with a Current Market Price Estimate to give you an
idea on how much your home is worth in today's property market.
The Current Market Price Estimate is driven by APM's proprietary DMV
Modelling (Dynamic Multi-Variant Modelling) technology. By using various points
of information, the Model determines the best method for providing the most
appropriate Current Market Price Estimate.
Properties with recent sale information available will use it as the basis
for the Current Market Price Estimate. The price of the recent sale is indexed
forward (converted) from the date of the recent sale into today's money.
Where a property does not have recent sale information, sale information for
neighbouring properties is used for the Current Market Price Estimate.
To determine the most appropriate neighbouring properties for comparison when
calculating the estimate, various geographical and property specific information
are considered including:
- Property location;
- How many bedrooms, bathrooms and garages;
- Additional property information such as air conditioning, pool, polished
timber floors, walk in wardrobes, billiard and rumpus rooms;
- Proximity to train lines and the coast.
To ensure that all past sale prices involved are appropriate for today's
market, each price is indexed forward (converted) into current day value.
If available, a 12 month forecasted price estimate is also included in the
Property Report to give users an indication on what the property will be worth
in 12 month's time. This forecast is based on the current price plus the average
annual % change for the past 3 years. The % change for each year individually
can be found in the Market Trends section of the Property Report.
We recommend that users should, where possible refer to the comparable sales
shown, inspect similar properties on the market, and use this report as one part
of a suite of research before making a decision.
Please note: A Home Price Guide®
Property Report is not an EXACT valuation for the property. It is highly
accurate in the majority of cases but does not wholly replace the judgement of
an individual making a carefully considered decision with the best information
at their fingertips. We encourage users of our Property Reports to supplement
our information by doing further market research.
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16. (SA only) What do the abbreviations stand for
in my Home Price Guide® Report?
South Australian Home Price Guide® reports purchased may contain a series of
abbreviations in the description for each property listed. This describes the
building and land use for the property. Building Codes included in the report
will outline the construction material for walls and roof, house style,
condition of the property, as well as structural improvements. The Land Usage
Code is displayed as a numerical code (eg LUC: 1310) and indicates the use being
made of the land. The key for these codes is available below and should be used
along with your Home Price Guide® Report.
Print key : Building Codes | Land Usage Codes
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17.How accurate is the data that APM
collects?
APM relies upon many different sources to collect our data, these include
APM’s Investigation Centre, Real Estate Agents, and various government
departments. We have various systems and processes in place to check our data
and ensure that it is correct. However, we cannot warrant its accuracy or
completeness due to the possibility of human error.
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18.How are the Market Price Trends on the APM Home
Price Guide Reports calculated? Calendar year, Financial year?
The Market Price Trends are calculated based on a rolling 12 month period,
from the two months prior. For example if a report was purchased in June 2010,
it will have statistics calculated from the period June 2009 to April 2010
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19.What and how is the Long Term Trend
calculated?
The Long Term Trend is calculated as the change in Median Values based on the
aggregated data collected by APM over the past 10 years.
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20.How do I edit my details and password on
my subscription?
To amend your account details simply going to Fairfax Digital Member
Center, log in, update your details and then click submit. The Fairfax
Digital Member Centre is linked to APM Home Price Guide and will automatically
update these details for you.
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21. Is private information such as Property Owner's
or Tenant's name available?
Private information such as Property Owner's and Tenant's Name or Current
Address are not avaialble through Home Price Guide.
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22.Are the Home Price Guide Postcode Report and
Street Report available in Excel format?
These products are currently not available in Excel Format.
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SMS Questions
1. What is 19 SMS HPG (19 767 474)?
19 SMS HPG is a Premium Rate SMS service. 19 SMS HPG (19 767 474)* SMS Cost
$6.60 (incl GST) lets you SMS the specific address of an individual residential
property using SMS from your mobile phone and we will return either:
- the latest reported sale price of that property; or
- if we do not have the last reported sale price we will provide a Home
Price Guide® to property prices in that area and compared to the prices in the
surrounding region
Please send addresses to 19 SMS HPG (19 767 474)* SMS Cost $6.60 (incl GST)
in the format:
12/23 Smollett St Bondi 2026 (postcode
optional).
We cover all states and territories except Tasmania; and in
Victoria we can only supply auction sales and not private sales.
Each
enquiry costs $6.60 (incl GST), which is billed directly to your phone bill
at the time you make the enquiry by your mobile phone company.
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2. How does 19 SMS HPG work and what address format
do I use?
Simply SMS the address of the property you are interested in to 19 SMS HPG
(that's 19 767 474)* SMS Cost $6.60 (incl GST) and we will return the Home Price
Guide® direct to your phone.
Please send all addresses in the following
standard address format:
12/23 Smollett St Bondi 2026
Our
address matching intelligence allows us to do some address matching and
clarification but this does not include correcting the spelling of street names
so please be careful when texting. If we are unable to identify an address we
with either SMS you with some address options (which you can select by sending
back the corresponding letter identifying the alternative address) or a request
to correct and resubmit the address. You will be charged your standard SMS rates
(not Premium Rates) for any reply SMS's you send.
(Strictly speaking, we do
not require the postcode but it does help to identify multiple occurrences of
the same street)
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3. What is the SMS number ?
19 SMS HPG which translates as 19 767 474* SMS Cost $6.60 (incl GST).
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4. How much does 19 SMS HPG cost?
Home Price Guide® 19 SMS HPG costs $6.60 (incl GST) per address
enquiry. If you are asked to reply to a secondary SMS from Home Price Guide® (in
response to your initial enquiry), such as to clarify an address you will be
charged at your standard SMS rate (that is, the non-premium rate).
You
will be billed by your mobile phone company. Due to the nature of the Premium
SMS billing system operated by Belong (our Premium Rate SMS service provider)
and the Telcos, the payment is charged to your phone bill at the time you send
the SMS enquiry not when you receive the Home Price Guide®.
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5. Do I need to register to use 19 SMS HPG?
In NSW, the short answer is no. You can just start sending SMS enquiries from
your mobile phone to 19 SMS HPG (19 767 474)* SMS Cost $6.60 (incl GST) but we
highly recommend that you register in advance.
In states and territories
outside NSW, you must agree to certain terms and conditions of use set by our
state government data suppliers and by APM.
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6. What states are covered by 19 SMS HPG?
All states and territories of Australia except Tasmania are covered by 19 SMS
HPG. Generally speaking we have historic private treaty sales data back to 1993
(NT - 1998).
19 SMS HPG is not recommended for use in
Victoria.
Due to Victorian state government regulations we can
only provide last sale prices for properties that were sold at auction and where
the sale price was reported to APM.
Use of 19 SMS HPG in Victoria is subject
to the following disclaimer:
Victorian Government Copyright and Disclaimer Notices
Current 1
January 2011.
- Copyright and Disclaimer for Statistical Reporting Purposes
To the extent that this report has been developed using information
owned by the State of Victoria, the State of Victoria owns the copyright in
the Property Sales Data which constitutes the basis of this report and
reproduction of that data in any way without the consent of the State of
Victoria will constitute a breach of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The State
of Victoria does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information
contained in this report and any person using or relying upon such information
does so on the basis that the State of Victoria accepts no responsibility or
liability whatsoever for any errors, faults, defects or omissions in the
information supplied.
- Copyright and Disclaimer for Valuation (Real Estate Agent) Purposes
The State of Victoria owns the copyright in the Property Sales
Data and reproduction of that data in any way without the consent of the State
of Victoria will constitute a breach of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The
State of Victoria does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the
information contained in this report and any person using or relying upon such
information does so on the basis that the State of Victoria accepts no
responsibility or liability whatsoever for any errors, faults, defects or
omissions in the information supplied.
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7. What do I do if I am not satisfied with the SMS HPG
service?
Each SMS HPG we send out includes our telephone number and we would encourage
anyone who is not satisfied with the service to contact us on that number 1800
65 33 44 and we will try to resolve any problems or issues.
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8. How do I get a refund for an SMS I have
received?
We recommend that you contact APM first on the number provided 1800 65 33 44
and we will try to resolve your complaint. Reversals can only be made by a
carrier, and parties other than the phone account holder are unable to call a
telco to discuss a customers account (due to privacy regulations).
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9. What happens when a property is listed as For
Sale?
If we have a property recently reported as 'For Sale', for which we have not
yet received the result, we will send you the last reported sale price or when
there's been no reported sale price we'll send you a Home Price Guide®
mini-snapshot of property prices in the local area, postcode or surrounding
region. Then once we receive the property sale information we will send you an
update via SMS for that particular address.
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10. Tips for using 19 SMS HPG
Premium Rate SMS limits
Some mobile phone companies have a set Premium Rate SMS limit which may
restrict your usage of 19 SMS HPG. Contact your mobile phone provider directly
to enquire about or increase your Premium Rate SMS limit.
Some web based SMS services also apply a Premium Rate SMS limit and are
therefore not recommended to use for 19 SMS HPG.
(a), (b), (c) options
Sometimes your 19 SMS HPG request may require further clarification and you
will be asked to select a, b, or c. Only SMS the option you require, see example
below:
| You type |
You receive |
You type |
You receive |
| 47 the causeway 2035 |
47 the causeway 2035 address check. Reply with
a or b only: (a) Beverley Park (median) (b) Maroubra (sale) Or APM 1800
817 616 |
B |
47 The Causeway Maroubra 2035. Sold (auction)
Jun-01 $725,000 MCP McGrath. Sold (auction) Jul-98 $355,000 ELD Randwick.
1800 817 616 (C) APM/NSW LPI www.smshpg.com |
SMS the address only
When sending your request to 19 SMS HPG please use the following format
only:
12/23 Smollet St Bondi 2026
Please do not:
• Include a greeting (eg. hello / good-bye / thank you,
etc.)
• Add your name or telephone number into the message
• Include any
additional punctuation (eg. full stop / comma / question mark, etc.)
* Be.interactive. SMS Cost $6.60 (incl GST). Helpdesk 1800 65 33 44.
Terms and conditions available at Home Price Guide
Terms and conditions
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Property Pro Questions
1.Is there a free trial available for
Property Pro, before I make my full purchase?
Unfortunately it is not possible to get a free trial for Property Pro, if you
would like to know what Property Pro can offer you, there is a sample available
for viewing at Property
Pro Sample.
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2.How far back does the historical data
provided by Property Pro go?
If you are subscribed to Property Pro, your subscription will provide you
with access to all the data in our database, up to 20 years.
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3.Can I receive a refund if I choose to
terminate my Property Pro subscription before the three month term has
expired?
Unfortunately, we do not offer a refund on Property Pro if you choose to
terminate your subscription before the three month term has expired. APM has
created the three month term specifically for this product because three months
is the average minimum required for research by property buyers or sellers.
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4.How do I log into my Property Pro
subscription?
To login to Property Pro go to APM's
Your Account page , enter your login details and click on your subscribed
postcodes to start using Property Pro.
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5.How do I retrieve my username and
password?
To retrieve your password go to APM's
account login page, and click on the ‘forgotten password’ link under the
password box.
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6.What is the difference between the
Postcode Report and the Property Pro subscription?
The Postcode Report is a one
off report that gives you either 12 or 24 months (depending on whether you
select the 12 or 24 month report) of sales data dating back from the time of
purchase.
Property Pro
allows you to interactively access all data available (up to 20 years) for your
subscription in your chosen postcode. Property Pro also allows you to
view this data on a map, perform searches based on your entered criteria,
Provides you with estimates on a property's current value, and more.
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7.Why am I unable to subscribe to
Property Pro for a postcode in Victoria or Western Australia?
We are unable to offer Property Pro to users in Victoria or Western Australia
due to licensing issues which prevent us from offering a complete and affordable
product.