The Property Tribune contributor, Wouter Jellema, recently had an exclusive audience with the newly elected president of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), Jacob Caine.
Caine is the partner and CEO at Caine Real Estate, and has been a long-time REIV member and director since 2020. He was previously director at realestateview.com.au between 2017 and 2020, and co-founder of proptech startup, Lodg.
Reflecting on his first few weeks as president of REIV, Caine said he had received many messages of support and well-wishes.
“… for me, personally, [this] was very buoying,” Caine said.
“I am looking forward to giving my best for the industry over the next 12 months.”
What does the president of the REIV do?
The role of the REIV’s president can be broadly subdivided into two parts.
The President often chairs member meetings or presents matters of current affairs as the chief spokesperson during official events.
The second part is where the President works in collaboration with the REIV CEO, Quentin Kilian, presenting matters of importance to local and state governments and lobbying them on behalf of their members and the community.
The president shares these tasks with the CEO and will give input on television, radio, and other news outlets.
What is in store for 2024?
Caine told The Property Tribune that 2024 will be a big year for REIV.
“We are currently in the middle of a sales campaign for our headquarters on Camberwell Road in Camberwell,” said Caine.
“We have been in these offices since the 60s, and this move will be part of modernizing the Institute for our members, staff, stakeholders, and the community.”
Caine is also excited about the back-office project that they are working on at the institute.
“REIV is working to modernize its complete tech package, including implementing a new website, new online learning, new member logins, and so forth.
“The whole process of these projects requires a strong focus on change management to ensure that the community and their members are on board with the new chapter of the institute that is coming in 2024.”
Caine mentioned that the above goes hand in hand with his commitment to focus more on the younger members.
The state of Victoria’s property market
The REIV president is positive about the market, particularly highlighting that the Victorian real estate market has likely bottomed out. Growth will be muted, however, with inflation and interest rates continually placing pressure on the market.
“Supply has been down, and customer confidence has been drained by many economic factors,” Caine explained.
“We are not expecting to see large price rises, especially if the rates are still going up”
Jacob Caine, REIV
His outlook for the rental market was also positive, with the supply-demand balance in the Victorian rental market looking to be easing, somewhat.
“The determining factor that will stabilize things in the market is inflation and the interest rate increase. Once the economy stabilizes, consumers will be more confident about the future, and, as a result, will feel more confident making large financial commitments.”
Closing comments
Caine’s message to the public is to hold on to property if you own it.
He explained how our economy is geared towards property and real estate, and if you can hold property during tough times, the reward will be there afterwards.
The same goes for property investment.
Caine recalled many of the recent regulatory changes impacting landlords, with conditions becoming a bit more challenging. Landlords have also had to weather increasing costs, including various taxes and higher borrowing costs.
“We’ve got a lot of landlords that are in the process of exiting the market or contemplating it,” said Caine.
“Again, that’s sentiment more than reality, often.”
“It’s sentiment that things are going badly. It’s sentiment that it’s not a good investment class. I’d implore all those people to look at the trend over five years or ten years, if they’ve owned their property that long, and go ‘it’s still a great investment class, it’s still a great asset to have’.”
