Leah Calnan, president of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), said the real estate sector will continue to do its part to maintain safety amongst potential sellers and buyers.
"Crowds at auctions and open house inspections will continue to be limited to 20 people. The expected increase to 50 people has been put on hold for now. Auctions and open-for-inspections will continue to operate under strict regulations," Calnan said.
The stricter restrictions in Victoria are expected to remain until July 12. Despite this, Calnan said property transactions remain vital to Victoria’s economy, making it a must for the housing market to continue to operate.
"Victorian real estate is incredibly resilient. Virtual inspections, online auctions and video calls will continue to keep clients and investors engaged," she said.
With the proactive initiatives implemented for safety, Calnan said the sector managed to maintain some stability. In fact, market figures indicate that the state's housing industry is holding its ground, with Melbourne's property market reported the highest jump in residential listings in May.
Jump in listings
Figures from SQM Research show that over the month, around 4,000 residential properties were added to the city's residential listing stock, equivalent to an 11.6 percent growth. This brought Melbourne's overall listings to 38,447, the highest amongst all capital cities.
On an annual basis, Melbourne reported the smallest decline in listings at 4.3 percent.
Australia's national listing stock increased by 3.9 percent over the month to 304,137. Louis Christopher, managing director at SQM Research, said the increase in the national level was driven by older stock not selling.
"New listings actually fell for the month at the national level, which is abnormal for May. Though we have recorded rises in new listings for Sydney and Melbourne, other cities such as Brisbane, Adelaide and others recorded a decline in new stock," he said.
The increase in Melbourne's residential listing stock came as prices started to show weakness. Recent figures from CoreLogic show that Melbourne's median house value declined by 0.9 percent in May to $686,798.
