Melbourne’s extended lockdown will see hundreds of vendors cancel property sales as the winter auction season comes to an end.
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria says the two-week lockdown will mean a lot of the 3,300 auctions scheduled over that time will be postponed or cancelled.
It’s a shame for Melbourne’s property market, which was set for a record couple of weeks, with 1,640 scheduled auctions this week and another 1,660 the week after.
REIV president Leah Calnan said many agents would pull out after losing two weeks of inspections and things would only get worse as the lockdown goes on unless governments helped out by allowing some activity.
“We are really conscious of the emotional impact that this lockdown is creating for those who need to find their next property,” Ms Calnan said.
“We really need to see one-on-one inspections resume as soon as possible.”
Regional Victoria can proceed as normal, not being affected by the current lockdown.
There’s concern over protection for renters during yet another lockdown, with Tenants Victoria calling for another ban on evictions.
“With this latest extension to lockdown six, Victorians in the private rental market who’ve lost jobs, and or hours, urgently need a package of targeted supports to help them withstand this extremely challenging time,” Tenants Victoria CEO Jennifer Beveridge told news.com.
Ms Calnan welcomed support for tenants but said landlords needed to be looked after too, many of which may have lost work themselves.
“Any government support that is introduced needs to be provided fairly to both renters and landlords,” she told news.com.
