Industry Focus

16 Industry Focus CUSTOMER CONVERSATION Real estate in Australia is a booming business, though one that is fickle with ever-changing economic conditions and consumer sentiment. Tim McKibbin, CEO of the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW), is at the forefront of the industry as it evolves, using his position to benefit all players in the game. Tell us about REINSW. REINSW is a non-profit organisation that is more than 100 years old. We liaise with the government regarding the property market and the regulatory environment in which real estate agents operate, so we're interested in a strong and healthy property market. How is REINSW meeting the demands of a changing environment? We're an evolving society, both technology-wise and from a cultural point of view. We continue to evolve. Property continues to evolve. Consumers are constantly looking for higher quality data that's available to them virtually instantaneously. The market itself has changed. In my parents' day, for example, people had an expectation—or a wish, if you will—of the great Aussie dream of owning a quarter-acre block and kicking a football in their backyard. I think we're now moving away from that to people looking at high-quality and higher density living. The abandonment of the national licensing scheme was a big issue. What's your take on it? I have mixed emotions about the whole thing. I'm disappointed we didn't end up with national licensing—we were great supporters of the concept. But I was very pleased we didn't end up with the model the national occupational licensing authority was proposing because it would have been disastrous and we resisted it quite strongly. What aspects of the proposal did you object to? I guess the first problem with what they were putting forward was they were going to issue a licence to operate nationally but not do their first job, which was to harmonise the environment in which real estate practice operates. It would be like me issuing a driver's licence to you, but telling you that in NSW you must drive on the left-hand side of the road, and in Victoria on the right-hand side; and that the 'go' sign in Victoria is a green light while the 'go' sign in NSW is a red light. So everything's back to front. I think when you license somebody, you say you're confident they can go and operate in any environment. What's currently on REINSW's agenda? There are issues unfolding in the regulatory environment in all areas of our business and all areas of real estate practice in 2014. Developments in strata in NSW, new strata laws and residential tenancy are never-ending sources of review for us. We are constantly involved in discussions with government about tax and planning, which will continue to be a focus this year. Australian state governments have a high dependency on property taxes, which unfortunately means property bears an inappropriate burden of the government's revenue requirement. It's something that will ultimately have to be addressed because of the imposition it places on the property consumer. You're looking at people— new homebuyers in particular—trying to get into the property market. It's such a quantum leap for them to raise the funds to get into the market, so the great Australian dream is becoming a real difficulty for many people. The planning legislation here in NSW is a creature that also needs to be addressed. The planning system is convoluted, time-consuming and expensive, which all adds to the consumer's costs, so that's what we want to address. A lot of work was done on it last year but the necessary outcomes weren't achieved, so that will be an ongoing task for government and, certainly, for us. As a client of Westpac, how does that relationship help your organisation? I've benefited from some very valuable presentations by Westpac's Chief Economist, Bill Evans, and a number of other economists at Westpac, but at a business level, at a financing level, our business is unique. Responsible for promoting the interests of real estate agents and the property market in general, Tim McKibbin, CEO of the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales, speaks about the organisation's objectives and how it's meeting the demands of a changing environment WORDS: AMAL AWAD Keeping it real

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