Glossary · Australian property
Comparable sales.
Recent sale prices of similar nearby properties used to anchor a fair-value estimate for a target property. The single most important input to any property valuation, offer, or vendor pricing decision.
API valuation methodology requires 3-5 comparable sales within the prior 6 months, within ~1km radius, with similar property type, bedroom count, land size, build era, and condition. Adjustments are made for material differences (renovation, view, aspect, frontage). The output is a fair-value range, not a single number.
Three sources of comp data: (1) state land-record transactions (most authoritative, actual stamp-duty-paid prices), (2) sales-agent post-sale advertised prices (caveat: sometimes inflated for marketing), (3) public valuer comp libraries. Each pap suburb scorecard surfaces 5-10 SAL-canonical comps with confidence chips citing the source.
Why buyers should care: vendor's listed price is asking, not market. Sales agents anchor low to drive volume and win listings. Vendors anchor high in defence. The truth is in comps. If your offer is anchored to comps you can hold a firm number through the campaign. Without comp anchoring, buyers commonly overpay 5-10% just by lacking the evidence anchor.
Worked example
Target: 3-bed weatherboard, Brunswick West, 540m². Comp 1: 4 weeks ago, 3-bed weatherboard, same street, 480m², sold $1.135M. Comp 2: 2 months ago, 3-bed brick, parallel street, 580m², sold $1.225M. Comp 3: 6 weeks ago, 3-bed weatherboard, parallel street, 500m², sold $1.155M. Adjusted fair value range $1.13-1.18M. Vendor asks $1.25M; offer $1.16M with comp evidence attached.
Source
API Code of Practice; state land-record transactions.
Related terms
Open the playbook — 11 chapters end-to-end, every threshold cited.