PHOTO: Roy Li, director/licensee of Ideal Realty WA. ABC
Sales figures questioned. Almost $10 million in agent-owned property transactions added to the tally. A separate conflict-of-interest investigation. And now Consumer Protection investigators have raided the agency. Is it time to ask how much consumers should trust real estate’s glittering “Top Agent” awards?
Real estate loves an award.
Top 1%.
Grand Master.
Million Dollar Club.
#1 Agent.
$100 Million+ Sold.
The trophies, badges and rankings are plastered across agent profiles, listing presentations and social media because they send vendors one incredibly powerful message:
This agent gets results.
But a developing scandal in Western Australia raises an uncomfortable question for the entire real estate industry:
How much can consumers actually trust the numbers behind the trophies?
One of Western Australia’s highly ranked real estate agents, Roy Li, director/licensee of Ideal Realty WA, has been disqualified from REIWA’s 2026 awards after discrepancies emerged in sales data submitted to the institute.
And since that story broke, things have escalated dramatically.
On 3 September, WA Consumer Protection investigators raided Ideal Realty’s Perth office as part of an investigation into separate allegations surrounding a property transaction involving the agency’s owners.
Let’s be clear from the outset: the raid relates to the separate conflict-of-interest investigation, not proof that the awards-data discrepancies were criminal conduct, and Li disputes key allegations surrounding the property transaction.
But put the two stories together and this has become one hell of a real estate story.
From Top 1% to Disqualified
According to ABC News, Li had previously been recognised among the top 1 per cent of REIWA members.
For the previous financial year, he was credited with approximately:
🏠 125 properties sold
💰 $132 MILLION in sales
That placed him 13th among 40 agents receiving the top-one-per-cent honour based on value sold.
That’s serious marketing ammunition.
Imagine being a vendor interviewing three agents.
One tells you:
I’m among the top 1% of agents in Western Australia.
That’s powerful.
But then somebody started looking at the numbers.
ABC Checked the Sales Against Official Records
This is where things get interesting.
ABC News compared reported transactions with Western Australia’s official land-title records.
Its analysis found that the reported sale prices for at least one-third of the properties it examined were inconsistent with the prices recorded on the state’s official register.
Li acknowledged inaccuracies in historical sales-price entries.
His explanation?
He said advertised prices had mistakenly been entered instead of final contract prices for some transactions and that corrected information had subsequently been supplied to REIWA.
Administrative mistakes happen.
But then comes another extraordinary detail.
Almost $10 MILLION in Agent-Owned Property Transactions
ABC’s examination also found six transactions involving properties owned by either Li or fellow Ideal Realty licensee Lin Ding had been included in the sales tally.
Those transactions added almost $10 million to the reported total.
Li said the properties had originally been listed for sale but were subsequently withdrawn and had been incorrectly recorded as sold because of an administrative error.
Following ABC’s questions, those sales records were removed from REIWA’s website.
Think about what that means from a consumer perspective.
When a vendor sees:
$132 MILLION SOLD
they don’t see the spreadsheet sitting behind the number.
They see authority.
Success.
Experience.
Market dominance.
And perhaps most importantly:
credibility.
REIWA Pulled the Pin
REIWA says it had already been examining Li’s sales data for around six months before ABC contacted it.
The result?
Disqualified from the 2026 awards.
The matter was also referred to REIWA’s Professional Standards Tribunal, and REIWA said the outcome could determine whether previous awards are removed as well.
REIWA president Suzanne Brown made the fundamental issue crystal clear:
“The consumer should be able to rely on the data.”
Exactly.
Because these aren’t meaningless numbers inside an industry spreadsheet.
They’re marketing currency.
And Then Came the Raid
As if the awards controversy wasn’t enough, the story took another turn this week.
On 3 September 2026, WA Consumer Protection investigators executed a search warrant at Ideal Realty’s office as part of its investigation into a separate property transaction.
That investigation centres on allegations from homeowner Chao “Jack” Wu, who engaged Ideal Realty to sell his home in 2024.
Wu alleges he didn’t initially realise that the company purchasing his property was owned by Li and Ding.
Li disputes that account and says Wu knew they were the buyers before the offer was made. However, Li has acknowledged that the legally required written disclosure acknowledging his interest wasn’t signed until weeks after the sale contract.
Consumer Protection had previously issued Ideal Realty a formal warning concerning the alleged conflict of interest.
Now investigators have searched the agency’s premises.
Again, a search warrant is not a finding of guilt.
But the escalation is significant.
The “Ghost Open Home” Allegation
And this part of the separate dispute is remarkable.
Wu has alleged there was effectively a “ghost” open home at his property before the company owned by his agents made an offer.
He says he was told 13 groups attended an open home.
ABC subsequently spoke with a prospective buyer who said she arrived for the scheduled inspection only to be told it had been cancelled.
Li’s explanation was that the tenant had refused access to the inside of the property at the last minute, although potential buyers could view the exterior. He also said private inspections had occurred.
Li denies wrongdoing and maintains the seller knew who the buyers were.
Those competing accounts are now part of the broader controversy.
But Property Noise Thinks There’s an Even Bigger Story
Forget one agent for a moment.
Forget one agency.
Forget even REIWA.
How reliable are real estate agent rankings generally?
Consumers constantly encounter claims such as:
“#1 Agent.”
“Top 1%.”
“$200 Million Sold.”
“Suburb’s Leading Agent.”
“Award-Winning Agent.”
But how many vendors ever ask:
Who supplied the data?
Who independently verified it?
What exactly qualifies as a sale?
Are jointly listed properties counted?
Are agent-owned properties included?
Is the ranking based on volume, value, listings or something else entirely?
And who audits the claims before consumers see them?
Those questions suddenly matter.
Because REIWA’s Own Rules Put Accuracy on Members
REIWA’s published award rules state that eligible people must ensure information provided to REIWA is entirely accurate and that errors or discrepancies must be reported.
The awards themselves are determined using listing, sales and leasing data registered with REIWA.
REIWA says it also audits sales data and had already been investigating the discrepancies in this case.
That’s important.
But this case demonstrates something else:
The integrity of an award is only as strong as the integrity of the data underneath it.
A Trophy Can Be Worth Thousands
Real estate awards aren’t just about ego.
They’re commercial assets.
An agent can take an award and use it to win listings.
A listing can generate commission.
More listings create more sales.
More sales create better rankings.
Better rankings generate more listings.
It’s a powerful feedback loop.
Which is precisely why the numbers need to be beyond reproach.
If consumers are choosing agents partly because of sales statistics, those statistics aren’t merely industry trivia.
They’re advertising.
Should “Top Agent” Claims Be Independently Verified?
Here’s where Property Noise thinks the debate needs to go.
Maybe it’s no longer enough for the industry to hand out trophies based substantially on information flowing through industry reporting systems and then correct problems when discrepancies emerge.
Perhaps major performance awards should require independent verification against settlement or land-title data before they’re awarded.
Not afterwards.
Before the trophy.
Before the press release.
Before the social-media graphic.
Before an agent sits in a vendor’s lounge and says:
“I’m one of the top agents in the state.”
And This Isn’t Just an Australian Question
New Zealand should be paying attention too.
Our real estate industry is equally obsessed with awards, rankings, sales figures and “number one” claims.
Look at almost any group of agent profiles and you’ll find them.
Consumers naturally assume those badges mean something concrete.
Maybe they do.
But consumers deserve to know exactly what they mean and exactly how the underlying numbers were verified.
Property Noise Take: The Industry Has a Credibility Problem
Roy Li says historical inaccuracies resulted from errors.
He disputes the serious allegations surrounding the separate property transaction.
REIWA says it had already been investigating his sales data and has taken action.
Consumer Protection’s investigation is ongoing.
Those distinctions matter.
But this story has exposed something much bigger than one Perth agency.
Real estate sells trust.
And when agents use awards and enormous sales totals to persuade homeowners to hand them their most valuable asset, those numbers need to be bulletproof.
Not approximately right.
Not corrected after journalists start asking questions.
Right.
Because if a consumer can’t rely on a real estate agent’s advertised sales record, what exactly is a “Top 1% Agent” award worth?
Maybe the biggest investigation needed now isn’t into one agent.
Maybe somebody needs to audit the awards.
🔥 HAVE YOUR SAY
Should real estate industry awards and “Top Agent” rankings be independently audited before agents are allowed to use them in advertising?
Or has the industry become far too obsessed with trophies, rankings and self-promotion?
👇 Tell us what you think.