This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE Real Estate Institute of Victoria has elected Mornington Peninsula agent Andrew Meehan as its president ahead of the state election and the government releasing its findings of a property market review.
Meehan was elected for the customary 12-month term and will take the place of Richard Simpson, who took over the role in May to serve the remainder of one-year period following the shock resignation of Adam Docking.
Docking was arrested in April over the alleged theft of signs belonging to a rival real estate agency. Most recently, he has been marketing the four-bedroom brick home in Vermont South that for 37 years played the role of 30 Ramsay Street on iconic TV show Neighbours.
Meehan has served as an REIV director for the past two years, in which time he has held the roles of senior vice president, vice president, chair of the board’s nominations and remuneration committee and board management and finance committee. He entered the real estate industry in 2008 as a director of Nicholas Lynch Real Estate Group, having previously held senior management positions and directorships in a variety of sectors over 25 years, including with ASX-listed companies.
Simpson will remain on the REIV board, which has also elected Jacob Caine and Megan Mander as senior vice president and vice president respectively for the same period.
Meehan said he was honoured to lead Victoria’s peak real estate body in one of the most important periods for the property sector.
“The state’s looming election coincides with a confluence of critical market-shaping forces. From rising interest rates and inflation to a renewed focus on taxation, opportunity exists for the sector to galvanize and work together as it engages state government and other sector stakeholders on key property policy issues.”
Victoria’s property industry employs more than 15,000 people, and contributes more than 20% of Gross State Product ($76 billion) and more than 40% of the government’s annual tax revenue.
The industry is also waiting on the state government to release the findings of the property market review undertaken earlier this year, which sought to address issues such as underquoting, housing affordability, upfront costs for buyers entering the market, and access to market trends and property values.
The government last month announced it would spend $3.8 million on an underquoting taskforce. According to Consumer Affairs Victoria, inquiries about underquoting rose to 1,466 in the 2021-22 financial year, with 165 recorded over July and August.
“We eagerly await outcomes from the Andrews government’s property market review, so that there can be some certainty in the way the sector is regulated and supported into the future,” Meehan said.
