Real estate agents will be able to run open homes, rental viewings and auctions again but will need to ensure potential buyers keep to groups of under 10 and a minimum of two metres apart from each other.
This morning the Government confirmed the guidelines for the real estate industry on how agents can operate at Level 2.
Auctions can have no more than 100 attendees in total and no more than 10 people in a group.
REINZ worked with ministers, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Real Estate Authority to step towards a more normal, but safe, working environment.
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In particular, says REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell, it was important to clarify what the changes from 100 people to 10 people meant in relation to open homes, rental viewings and auctions – all of which can now go ahead under Level 2, but with two metre physical distancing and contact tracing in place.
“More than $4 billion of property sales were put on hold while the country has fought Covid-19. It’s been an important fight and one that the real estate profession has supported, but now it’s time to get the country back up and running, and to get the economy moving again,” she says.
In addition to enforcing physical distancing and contact tracing of all customers and clients, the guidelines require that all high-touch areas are cleaned regularly.
Under alert level 3 real estate agents have been able to conduct private inspection - two per day, per property.
“From a real estate perspective, the country went into the pandemic in a very strong position and hopefully the strength of the market will carry us through so that the impact is somewhat minimised.
“We will be watching the data closely over the coming weeks and months to see how the industry is faring.”
Norwell added that getting the real estate profession up and running is a huge step that will be warmly welcomed by buyers, sellers and real estate agents across the country.
“Over the past few weeks, we have been mindful of the need to protect New Zealand from the effects of Covid-19, but now is the time to get the country up and running, in a safe manner, as quickly as possible in order to minimise the economic impacts on the country going forward."
As well as allowing open homes, the guidelines also allow offices to be opened, sale and purchase and listing agreements can be negotiated and inspections by builders, valuers or pre-purchase buyers all can now be in person.
Importantly, settlements and moving houses between regions is now allowed.
Last week, Martin Cooper, owner of Harcourts Cooper and Co on Auckland's North Shore, says his agents have been "flat out" since the country came out of lockdown. They have conducted more than 1000 property inspections in level 3 and he expects numbers to pick up now in level 2.
"We will be able to run open homes and auctions on site again and we will see a lot of activity and run at a faster pace," he says.
He is very optimistic about the level of interest from buyers and sellers. "We are feeling uplifted about the level of enquiry. There are a lot of buyers who are looking for a solution, who sold pre-lockdown and need to find a property so we have a buoyant market."
Ray White South Island regional manager Jane Meyer says her agents can't wait to really crank things up.
"We have a lot of inspections that still need to happen and doing open homes again will be a big relief to agents," she says.
Tommy's Real Estate agent Nicki Cruickshank, who is based in Wellington, says allowing open homes again will give certainty to the market.
"There are a lot of people looking but not many were ready to commit. They felt uncomfortable about the whole viewing arrangement, so we're hoping it'll change in level 2. There's still shortage of stock and things will go reasonably okay."
