COVID-19 update for the real estate industry

Following the Prime Minister’s 6.00pm announcement on Tuesday 17 August, New Zealand will be going into Alert Level 4 as of 11.59pm on Tuesday 17 August for an initial period of three days, with Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula expected for an initial period of seven days.

The primary objective of Alert Level 4 is to restrict the spread of COVID-19. Only essential services are exempt from Alert level 4 restrictions. Real estate and property management are not listed as essential services.

Agents, property managers and staff must work from home. Offices cannot open to staff or the public. Social distancing is required. Real estate business can only go ahead if it doesn’t involve people moving out of their lockdown address. 

You cannot visit properties for appraisals or conduct viewings, open homes or pre-settlement inspections (in person), however you can continue to work on current listings from your home - call, video call or email your vendor/landlord or tenant to agree what work you will do during lockdown.

For full guidelines on what Level 4 means for the real estate profession, click here.

For property management guidance on what Level 4 means, click here.

 

Further Alert Level 4 Guidelines and Resources:

With the change in COVID-19 Alert Levels from midnight Tuesday night, we wanted to remind agents and vendors of the Alert Level 4 Guidelines and resources available to help.

Specific guidelines for REINZ members

• Click here for full guidelines for the real estate profession
• Click here for full guidelines for the property management profession

COVID-19 Clauses
Our updated COVID-19 clauses are available here. Please note that these clauses are also available via eForms.

COVID-19 Disclaimer for Appraisals (Alert Level 4) 

• You can find the updated COVID-19 Disclaimer for Appraisals here
• You can find the updated COVID-19 Disclaimer for Rental Appraisals here

Information for vendors and purchasers
Vendors and purchasers can go to the settled.govt.nz COVID-19 webpage for more information about what they can and cannot do during the various Alert Levels.

Information for landlords and tenants
Landlords and tenants can go to the Government’s COVID-19 website for more information about what they can and cannot do at Alert Level 4.

Stay safe and look after each other
We’ve done this before, and we can get through it again. For information on how to protect yourself and others from COVID-19, visit the official COVID-19 website.

 

This release was originally published by REINZ. 

For further information, please contact Kim Thompson, Senior Communications Advisor at REINZ, on 021 953 308.