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The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) will maintain consistency in its leadership for the next 12 months, having re-elected its president and deputy president.
At the organisation’s 2020 AGM, members elected to keep Adrian Kelly in the role of REIA president, while deputy president Hayden Groves will also retain his position.
According to a statement announcing the decision, the re-election comes after the pair provided “strong leadership in a challenging year”.
In Mr Kelly’s address to the AGM, he highlighted how the pandemic saw real estate institutes Australia-wide deal with the fastest-changing policy settings ever seen.
“The response from the REIs was a true testament to the power of team work of the state and territory REIs under the banner of REIA,” he said.
“With their expertise in training, advocacy and membership communications, REIs were able to immediately respond to the initial lockdown and facilitate property agents with virtual support, up-to-the-minute advice on current regulation, on-site materials and training assistance.”
In his address, the re-elected president commended the banks for supporting landlords in the wake of legislation that protected tenants, but also commended the federal government for its introduction of the JobKeeper and JobSeeker wage subsidies, which he explained “in effect were forms of rental assistance”.
“Our property managers found themselves between a rock and a hard place particularly given that the tenant lobby groups were being very vocal in the media while forgetting or ignoring the impact on our property owners,” he recounted.
Despite 2020 being a difficult year, Mr Kelly did observe that property values have “largely held”, with many regional areas reporting value rises.
According to the president, this is largely being fuelled by people wanting to leave the larger cities and, while amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, was already a rising trend prior to 2020.
“The wild predictions of 30 per cent of our tenants becoming unemployed has proved to be unfounded, with our members reporting less than 5 per cent of tenants being impacted in the larger capital cities, in particular Melbourne and Sydney, and less than 1 per cent in regional locations,” he outlined.
“In fact, we are now seeing rental vacancy rates tightening across many markets.”
Mr Kelly also acknowledged that the stage 4 restrictions in Victoria were a disquieting time for the REIA: “We were very concerned about what impact the forced lockdown in Victoria would have, given that this is Australia’s second largest market, meaning that if something happens in that state, it would have flow-on consequences for other parts of the country.
“Thankfully, that lockdown and the measures implemented managed to suppress the virus and the property market across that state is showing great resilience in most suburbs, though there remains some pockets which are slower to recover than others.”
Reflecting on the year that was, he commented: “As we reach the final stages of 2020, it is clear that our industry and the property market generally has withheld the shocks that were previously forecast.
“2021 will be one to watch with the tenant non-eviction periods coming to an end early in the year coinciding with the finalisation of mortgage pauses, and no doubt these things will be centrestage in the new year.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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