Real Estate Agents Urged to Use AI Honestly When Selling Homes

Real estate agents across Australia are using artificial intelligence, or AI, in new ways to advertise homes for sale and rent. Some agents use AI to add digital furniture to empty rooms, place fake families into photos, or even create songs about a home's floor plan. Experts and government offices say this is fine as long as agents are honest about it. But when AI is used to hide problems or make a home look better than it really is, it can mislead buyers and renters.

One practice common in real estate is called 'virtual staging.' This is when AI adds furniture or decorations to photos of empty rooms, so buyers can picture what the home might look like. Associate Professor Sara Thaichon from Griffith University says this is not a problem if agents tell people the images have been changed. She also says the property industry is 'one of the fastest adopters of AI in Australia.'

However, using AI to create a false picture of a property is a different matter. Professor Thaichon calls this 'house-fishing.' It is similar to the idea of 'catfishing,' where someone pretends to be something they are not. She says this kind of deception can seriously mislead people looking for a home.

Reporters at the ABC found several examples of AI being used in real estate listings around the country. Some photos were run through a tool called SynthID, which can detect whether an image was made by AI. The results showed that some images were created using OpenAI's tools, which add an invisible digital mark to AI-generated content.

One advertisement from Western Australia showed a family of four and their dog enjoying a picnic in a backyard. In the image, one of the children was holding a wine glass. When experts checked it, they found signs of digital manipulation, such as strange lighting and a slightly distorted hand. Another AI tool from Google said the image showed 'strong signs of digital manipulation or artificial generation.'

A real estate agent in New South Wales used AI to turn property floor plans into songs. One song included lyrics like 'stone-top kitchen, gas and grace' and 'four rooms full of little dreams.' Google's AI tool found that these songs were made using AI music generators. It noted the songs had a voice that sounded artificially processed.

Professor Thaichon said AI-generated songs are not a major problem if the lyrics describe the home accurately. Jacob Caine, the president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia, agreed that AI can be useful for showing a home's potential. But he said it must always be clearly stated when AI has been used. He added that using AI to hide problems is 'misleading' and 'frustrating for people.'

Under Australian consumer law, businesses are not allowed to mislead customers or make false claims about products or services. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said businesses must make sure AI images do not give buyers an 'overall false impression' of a property. They also reminded people that if they feel misled, they can contact their local consumer protection agency.

Queensland's Office of Fair Trading released a best practice guide in late June. The guide encouraged real estate agents to 'enhance responsibly' and to clearly disclose when AI has been used. It gave an example of a listing that showed a sparkling pool, but buyers who visited found it green and covered by a torn shade sail. Since January 2025, the office has received six complaints about misleading digital images in real estate ads.

Jacob Caine said the rules around AI in real estate are still unclear across Australia. He warned that this leaves room for dishonest behaviour. His advice to buyers and renters is simple: if an online listing seems too good to be true, visit the property in person to see it for yourself.