Central Coast Residents Say Property Listings Riddled with Copied Photos Are Costing Them Time, Money and Trust

House hunters on the Central Coast are raising the alarm about a persistent problem they say has only grown worse as the region's property market heats up: duplicate, reused and misrepresenting images appearing on real estate listings for homes across suburbs from Terrigal to Woy Woy.

The issue came into sharper focus in recent weeks as Central Coast Council's online development application portal and several major property listing platforms showed the same photographs attached to multiple distinct properties — in some cases images taken years earlier, depicting renovations since demolished or landscaping no longer in place.

A Problem With Real Consequences

For buyers already stretched thin by the region's housing affordability crunch, the stakes are high. Median house prices across the Central Coast local government area sat above $850,000 as of the first quarter of 2026, according to publicly available CoreLogic data, making every inspection trip from Sydney's northern suburbs — often a 90-minute round trip on the Central Coast & Newcastle Line — a significant investment of time and money.

Community members who spoke to The Daily Central Coast described arriving at open homes on Donnison Street in Gosford and along The Entrance Road in Long Jetty only to find properties that bore little resemblance to the photographs online. Floor plans were missing, external shots appeared to be from neighbouring lots, and in at least two reported cases, interior photos from one address had been repurposed for a different property listing entirely.

The problem is not unique to the Central Coast, but local conditions amplify it. The region attracts significant buyer attention from Sydneysiders priced out of the northern beaches and lower north shore, many of whom cannot easily make multiple inspection visits before committing to a purchase decision. Duplicate or placeholder images that go unchecked effectively filter out serious buyers who rely on digital research before booking travel.

What Community Members Are Asking For

Renters and first-home buyers around Gosford CBD — an area Central Coast Council has earmarked for renewal under its broader Gosford City Centre master planning work — say the issue undermines confidence in the local market at exactly the moment the precinct needs credible investor and resident interest.

Several community members contacted local advocacy group Central Coast Community Connections, which has been fielding complaints, and suggested that real estate agencies operating within the Gosford CBD renewal zone should be required to submit verified, date-stamped photographs as part of any listing lodged through Council's planning portal. A handful of buyers near the Wyong Town Centre and around Wamberal have also raised the problem directly with their local state member's office, without yet receiving a formal policy response.

NSW Fair Trading administers the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002, which contains provisions against misleading representations in property advertising. However, the practical enforcement mechanism for duplicate image use remains unclear to many buyers. Fair Trading's complaint process requires the aggrieved party to document the specific listing, the agency, and provide comparative evidence — a burden that community members say falls unfairly on people already navigating one of the most stressful financial transactions of their lives.

The timing is difficult to ignore. Sydney recorded its hottest June since 1859 this year, a climatic marker that has intensified local conversations about flood resilience and liveable housing stock on the Coast — precisely the kind of detailed, accurate property information that misleading listing images can obscure. Buyers evaluating flood-prone pockets near Tuggerah Lake or around the lower Wyong River system say accurate exterior photography is not cosmetic — it is essential due diligence data.

For affected buyers, the immediate practical step is to cross-reference any listing against Council's publicly searchable development application records and to request in writing from the selling agent the date each photograph was taken. Complaints about misleading advertising can be lodged with NSW Fair Trading online or by calling 13 32 20. Central Coast Council's customer service team, reachable through its Mann Street, Gosford office, can also confirm whether a listed address has active or recent DAs that may affect the property's appearance and condition.