Sydney’s underquoting capital has found its latest cautionary tale in Quakers Hill, where ambition, ego and regulatory scrutiny are rewriting the script for two of its brightest real estate stars. An Indian community success story in Sydney, Deepak Bangarh, a high-performing migrant agent who began this year feted on national award lists, has been sidelined for 60 days by NSW Fair Trading with his licence suspended while investigators comb through his sale price estimates. Once the proud frontman of DKB Real Estate in the city’s north-west, now suspended until 25 April 2026, he insists he has “done nothing wrong” and casts himself as a target — “a victim of jealousy and discrimination” from rivals who, he claims, resent his rise.
Before Deepak, the Quakers Hill wunderkind whose name became synonymous with eye-watering commissions, Gucci loafers, Rolex watches and a family Bentley Bentayga parked in the driveway, Josh Tesolin, Ray White’s top agent at the time, was also suspended last August.
This head-on collision of the swagger with a shifting regulatory mood of the NSW Fair Trading under commissioner Natasha Mann, has made an example of Quakers Hill estate agents as it cracks down on underquoting and manipulative sales tactics in a city where almost half of auctioned homes sell for more than 10 per cent above the guide. The message is blunt: agents who “manipulate estimated selling prices” or advertise properties for materially less or more than the true estimate are not just gaming the market — they are wasting buyers’ time and eroding trust.
When Josh Tesolin fell, it made space for Deepak Bangarh. His business flourished and DKB chalked up 139 sales last year, and industry rankings soon placed Bangarh third nationally in a dealmakers’ award. Now under a cloud, Fair Trading alleges he failed to include a reasonable estimated selling price in his agency agreements. The 60‑day suspension extends not only to his personal licence but also to his private company, which has been placed under the control of insolvency specialist McGrathNicol partner Matt Fehon. For an agent who had just broken into the national spotlight, it is a sharp comedown.
This crackdown on agents is unfolding against a broader political backdrop. After a joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age exposed just how frequently Sydney homes overshoot their price guides, the Minns government announced plans to stiffen penalties: agents found to be underquoting could face fines of up to three times their commission and be forced to publish price guides, along with statements of information justifying their estimates, across all advertising.
Deepak Bangarh is adamant that he is not into gaming the frenzied market. He is adamant the system, and the sky‑high prices it has produced, remain largely intact while pushing the salespeople to the front of the firing line.
The man who only weeks ago was being celebrated for his deal‑making now frames his suspension as the price of success in a fiercely competitive patch of Sydney’s sprawl, an attack stoked by envy and, he suggests, prejudice against a migrant who was really beginning to make impact in the market. Whether the regulators, and the public, accept that narrative will help decide not only his future, but the kind of agent people should be willing to trust with its most expensive asset.
The NSW Government is finalising consultation on tougher underquoting laws including requiring agents to publish a Statement of Information (SOI) on all property listings. This proposed reform would help prospective buyers understand how the selling price was calculated, including comparable sales and suburb median prices.
From January this year, disciplinary action is recorded on NSW Fair Trading’s recently launched ‘Name and Shame’ List, a search tool where people engaging the property market can research disciplinary action taken against licenced property agents.
To access the Name and Shame list, visit https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/fair-trading/how-we-regulate/name-and-shame-register.