How to find a property’s past sale history

Whether you want to understand a property you're hoping to buy or you just want to take up a new hobby, there are a few ways you can find a property's past sale history.

You can find out how many times it has been sold and how much it has been sold for.

Why would you want to do that? Well, if you're not a budding property history searching enthusiast, it can help you make a more informed decision about the property you're looking at.

If you see it's been sold 10 times in the last 2 years, probably not a good sign. If you see it's been selling for less and less each time, also not a good sign.

If the property hasn't been sold in a while though, it can take a little bit of time to find the information. Hopefully we can help though.

1. Property listing sites

Property listing sites are not only great for finding current listings but they also list sold properties, which can help you find a property's past sales history. If you're looking for a recent property sale this is probably your best bet. If the property you're looking at hasn't been sold in a long time you might need to jump to one of the other options.

For most of the sites below, look under their Sold sections.

• Domain. Research millions of properties across Australia, including recent sales, suburb level market trends and auction results.
• Realestate.com.au. Find property sales histories, market trends and suburb profiles. The website also has a useful insights tool for investors.
• Onthehouse.com.au. You can view property history for each listed property, although you need to sign up to get detailed information.
• All homes. This property listing site also lets you search past sales by suburb, street and address although the information is fairly limited.
• Pricefinder. This property data tool offers past property sales, valuations and a whole lot more. You have to pay but there is a free trial available.

2. Government sites and public records offices

State and territory governments have offices that record property sales, titles and other data. You usually have to pay a small fee for this information, so you want to be serious about getting the information. Here are some sites below:

3. Public records offices and archives

Public records offices and state archives are useful for obtaining historic information on older properties:

• VIC: Public Records Office Victoria has a helpful online portal.
• NSW: The NSW Lands Registry's Historical Land Records Viewer lets you search historic housing data. There's also the State Archives and Records office.
• QLD: The Queensland State Archives has a range of historic data on property and other topics.
• SA: State Records of South Australia.
• WA: State Records Office of Western Australia.
• TAS: Libraries Tasmania maintains an archive and heritage portal.
• NT: Northern Territories Archives Service.
• National: There's also the Canberra-based National Archives of Australia.

Other helpful property data

Researching a property’s sale history on the websites listed above can also generate a wide range of other useful information, including:

• The property’s rental history. Some real estate listing websites allow you to access data on when the property has previously been leased and the value of the rent.
• Full property reports. Many listings sites, banks and other companies offer free property reports that list comparable sales in the same area, price estimations and sales history. Reports often come in PDF form and can be emailed to you, providing a quick and convenient source of information. Domain, Realestate.com.au and ANZ all offer detailed, free property reports.
• Price estimates. Many property websites offer an estimate of the property’s current value to give you an idea of whether the asking price is fair. However, remember that these prices are estimates and should be used as rough guides only.
• ABS data. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has many publicly available data sets that deal with housing, mortgages and other topics at a broad, nationwide level. Some of this may be helpful in your property research.

More helpful guides and information on property data

If you need more help with your property sales history search and other property research, try some of these helpful guides.

• Historic mortgage interest rates
• Compare some of the cheapest home loan rates on Finder
• How to research the property market
• In-depth home buying guide

• What does 'price withheld mean'?

  If you look up the previous property sold price on a real estate website, you may find it is listed as 'price withheld'. Real estate agencies may do this if the property sold for less than expected. Firstly, because they may not want to tarnish their reputation for selling at a lower price. But also because they may not want to impact the price of other properties in the area.

• Why do I need to know the previous prices that a property sold at?

  If you're looking at buying a property it can be really helpful to know the price(s) it has sold at in the past. This way you can better understand if the price you offer is on trend, question any price outliers in the past, and get a feel for the appreciation or depreciation of the local market.

Written by

Richard Whitten

Editor

Richard Whitten is a money editor at Finder, and has been covering home loans, property and personal finance for 6+ years. He has written for Yahoo Finance, Money Magazine and Homely; and has appeared on various radio shows nationwide. He holds a Certificate IV in mortgage broking and finance (RG 206), a Tier 1 Generic Knowledge certification and a Tier 2 General Advice Deposit Products (RG 146) certification. See full bio

Richard's expertise

Richard has written 562 Finder guides across topics including:

• Home loans
• Property
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