Buyers get in line for properties
A STEADY procession of potential buyers passed through Dunedin open homes again at the weekend, following the move to Alert Level 2 late last week.
Open homes restarted on Saturday under strict guidelines from the Real Estate Authority (REA) and the Ministry of Health.
Edinburgh Realty property consultant Jim Columb was excited to be back on deck.
‘‘It’s great. It’s been pretty quiet over the lockdown. People just want to get back to work.’’
He believed it would not take long for property sales to start.
‘‘There’s a whole month of sales that haven’t taken place and we’d like to think those people are still in the market.
‘‘It’s going to be quite busy over the next few months.’’
He said the agency would usually be making about 220 sales per month at the moment, but fewer than 20 sales were completed during the lockdown.
He said he was working on about a dozen properties for sale in the city already.
Under Level 2, open homes were allowed if the hygiene and sanitisation requirements were met, and there are no travel restrictions for potential buyers, the REA said.
Those attending open homes were carefully managed to ensure physical distancing of 2m was maintained inside and outside the home.
Depending on the size of the home, this meant staggering entry to some properties and managing queues.
No more than 10 people, including the real estate agent, were allowed inside at any time.
Viewings aimed to be contactless if possible, so cupboards and doors were all opened to minimise surface transmission.
Viewers were also asked to sign a register so that contact tracing requirements could be met.
After the open homes, all areas that may have been touched were sanitised.