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The average Victorian contract of sale is now 92 pages

Picture of Lindel Enticott Lindel Enticott Updated on September 10, 2026

Victoria Buying Contract Review
The average Victorian contract of sale is now 92 pages
From 2,638 Victorian contract versions · February to August 2026

The average Victorian contract of sale is now 92 pages

We analysed 2,638 contract versions. The average was 92 pages, and it hasn't changed much since May.

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92
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The agent sends through the contract.

You open it.

Ninety-odd pages.

There’s a moment familiar to anyone buying a property in Victoria.

You find the price. You find the settlement date. You scroll through the rest, trying to work out what actually matters.

Somewhere around page forty, you start reading faster. By page seventy, you’re mostly hoping there isn’t anything important you’ve missed.

So we measured them.

Across 2,638 Victorian contract versions, the average was 92 pages, adding up to 243,732 pages in total.

And it’s not just one unusually large batch. The monthly average has stayed between 88 and 98 pages every month since May.

That’s a lot of paper to put in front of someone who may have only a few days to make a decision.

2,638
contract versions analysed
243,732
pages in total
92
pages in the average contract
88–98
monthly average range since May

Where do all those pages come from?

A Victorian contract usually contains four main parts.

The contract itself.

The particulars of sale, the price, deposit, settlement date and the standard conditions that govern the transaction.

The special conditions.

Extra terms added to the standard contract for that particular sale.

The vendor statement, or Section 32.

Disclosures about the property, including planning, rates, building works, notices and owners corporation information.

The attachments.

Title documents, plans, certificates, permits, owners corporation records and other supporting documents.

This last part accounts for much of the bulk.

That isn't necessarily a bad thing.

More supporting documents generally mean more information is available to a buyer. The problem is that more information also makes it harder to see what matters.

If you only have time to check four things

You don't need to treat page 1 and page 92 as equally important.

These are four places we'd want a buyer to look first.

1

The particulars of sale

Check the price, deposit, settlement date and exactly what's included with the property.

The goods and chattels list is easy to overlook.

If there's a dishwasher, wall-mounted TV or other item you expect to stay, check that it's actually included in the contract.

2

The finance and inspection conditions

Check whether the finance and building inspection conditions have actually been completed.

3 in 4

In three out of four contracts we reviewed, the finance clause was blank.

A blank finance clause isn't simply something to fill in later. Depending on the circumstances, it can mean the purchase isn't conditional on you obtaining finance.

That's one small section of one page that can have a very large financial consequence.

3

The special conditions

This is where the standard contract is changed or supplemented for the particular sale.

It's often one of the shortest sections, but it can materially change your position as a buyer.

Almost every contract we reviewed contained a due diligence or buyer-beware provision.

It's also where you'll often find additional terms about things like default, settlement or the condition of the property.

Short doesn't mean unimportant.

4

The title, encumbrances and building works disclosures

These tell you more about the property itself, and what may affect what you can do with it once you own it.

1 in 4

A restrictive covenant appeared in one in four contracts we reviewed.

~1 in 11

Almost one in eleven disclosed building works where no building permit was identified.

These aren't necessarily problems with the property. But they are things a buyer needs to understand before making an offer.

The contract you read may not be the contract you sign

 
 
 
 
 
 
Roughly one in six contracts was amended after it was first issued

There's another reason not to rely on the first version you receive.

In July, we analysed 685 contract versions across 589 contracts.

That means roughly one in six contracts was amended after it was first issued.

Amendments are normal. Many are minor.

But if you're looking at a contract on Tuesday and signing on Saturday, don't assume it's unchanged.

If a new version arrives, check what changed.

What we'd want a buyer to know

The problem isn't really that Victorian contracts are 92 pages long. The problem is that 92 pages can make every paragraph look equally important.

They're not.

One paragraph might simply confirm a rates amount. Another might affect whether you can rely on finance. Another might restrict what you can build on the property.

The document doesn't always tell you which is which.

That's why the goal shouldn't be to read 92 pages as quickly as possible.

It should be to understand which parts could materially affect your decision before you commit to the property.

And timing matters.

Before you make an offer, you can ask questions, negotiate terms or walk away.
After you've signed, your options can be very different.

Ninety-two pages. One afternoon. Free.

A Prepared property lawyer reads the contract in full and sends you back the parts that matter, ranked, the same day.

Method

Based on 2,638 Victorian contract versions analysed by Prepared between February and August 2026, totalling 243,732 pages, across metropolitan Melbourne.

Clause-level findings are drawn from the 1,358 contracts that received a published legal review.

Page counts include all attachments bundled into the contract as issued.
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