Nope nothing to do with the rapidly rising market at all. Agents knew what the place would sell for but deliberately under quoted to get more ppl through open homes and at the auctions.
There are serial offenders especially linked to one of the biggest real estate chains in Australia. So much so that even other agents whinged to us as about their behaviour. It's all well known but nothing is ever done about it.
Once you looked at enough places you just knew to add on 20% for anything they listed. You'd see them sell identical properties to ones sold recently and list price guides well below sold prices. It's all a gimic to create false demand for the properties they list. People see 40+ people at open homes and auctions and get fomo.
