In this episode of Property, Straight Up, host Mel Dennis steps back from the transaction table to look at the forces shaping Victoria's property market from the top down.

Mel sits down with Toby Balazs, CEO of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), who brings over 20 years of experience across proptech, residential, and project marketing — and right now, a packed policy agenda heading into an election year.

From a controversial auction rule change the industry believes will backfire, to 130+ regulatory shifts hitting property managers in just four years, to a landmark compliance deadline every agent needs to know about — Toby covers the structural shifts that will affect buyers, sellers, investors, and renters alike.

WHAT WE COVER:

• Why investor confidence is wavering — and what the REIV wants government to do about it
• The auction reserve debate: what the government proposed, why the industry pushed back, and what a better solution looks like
• Vendor-paid building and pest inspections: the case for, the caveats, and what a staged rollout might mean in practice
• 130+ changes to the Residential Tenancy Act in four years — and why the REIV is calling time on further reform
• The end of the REIV's RTO and what mandatory CPD means for practitioners
• AML Tranche 2: the compliance deadline hitting agents on July 1 and how to get ready

ABOUT DOMAIN & CO

Buying or selling a home is one of the biggest decisions of your life. Often the biggest financial decision you'll ever make. Bigger than anything else you'll sign your name to.

And the people meant to help you make it have started to look a lot like the people you didn't trust in the first place.

The polished ones in the sharp suits. The corporate machines who never learn your name. Or worst of all. No one. Just you and a portal and a hunch.

We've spent thirty years on both sides of property. The buy and the sell. The boom and the bust. The houses that grew. The ones that didn't. The agents you'd want in your corner. The ones you wouldn't.

We've walked the same families through five, six transactions across decades. First home. Family home. Forever home. The next chapter after that.

So we don't pitch. We don't perform. We don't take work we don't believe in. We just tell you what we'd do, if it were us in your position.

For property, told straight. We're your property people.

https://domainandco.com.au/

Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction & guest background

1:08 Toby's background — from Proptech to REIV CEO

2:26 The REIV's role: advocacy, compliance and education

3:08 Election year priorities — rental supply and investor confidence

5:03 How much has regulatory change hurt Victoria's rental market?

6:18 130+ changes to the Residential Tenancy Act in four years

8:57 The REIV Blueprint for a Better Functioning Property Market

11:01 The auction reserve debate — government proposal vs. REIV's fix

14:29 Balancing price transparency with vendor protection

16:21 Mandatory vendor building and pest inspections — pros and risks

19:38 Education changes — REIV exits its RTO role

21:22 Mandatory CPD coming industry-wide — what agents need to know

23:17 Biggest opportunity: fixing rental supply

24:19 Biggest challenge: AML Tranche 2 changes from July 1

25:34 One thing Toby wants consumers to understand right now

26:16 Upcoming REIV events — NAFE, AUSTROS and Young Agents

28:23 Wrap-up & where to find the REIV Blueprint