The Real Estate Institute of NSW brought their annual roadshow to Wollongong Golf Club this week, talking through a number of Illawarra specific issues with the region’s top property managers and realtors.
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Lifting education standards to ensure better client service, getting ahead with new software technology and the state of the current market were all hot on the agenda.
Chief economist from the Domain Group Dr Andrew Wilson explained while big sister Sydney’s house prices were starting to flatten out after record growth, the Illawarra was still strong with demand.
In the past three years Sydney house prices skyrocketed, with the average home increasing in value by more than 50 per cent, far greater than any other capital city.
Dr Wilson said even Wollongong house prices in 2015 were “quite extraordinary” though these rises were well behind us, saying that type of growth spike was unlikely to be seen again. However, he noted this was “a good thing”.
“There’s a lot more predictability and certainty in the marketplace,” he said.
He said the Illawarra’s population would continue to grow as people left the city life for a more affordable area they could still commute from, while the region was in the midst of a “building boom” signalling a constant supply and demand.
Dr Wilson predicted another interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank “as early as next month”, while the cycle of house prices could drop slightly in the next few months before a “very shallow” rise in September.
REINSW CEO Tim McKibbon discussed how many industries, not just in real estate, were slow to capitalise on technology and listed sights like Air BnB and Uber as examples of threats.
He said real estate professionals have to disrupt themselves and embrace technology to give more value to the customer as well as making more services available.
Mr McKibbon gave the example of an iPad application now available to property managers that would allow a new tenant to be able to connect all of their utilities and change addresses with various organisations at the click of a button.
Lifting education standards was another key issue the CEO was passionate about, calling the current standard “appalling”.
He said consumer should be able to have strong faith their real estate agent or property manager as an equipped person to do the job right.
“[It needs to be] reviewed and improved. [NSW] is 600% lower than the Northern Territory for entry into the profession … in the NT you must do 24 units of competency out of the national training package, in NSW you only have to do four,” he said.
He noted Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania all require licensed agents to hold a relevant diploma, in NSW only a Certificate IV is required.
Mr McKibbon believes consumers are entitled to a service that is as good as other states, and is currently calling on NSW Fair Trading and relevant government ministers to do something about it.