In this Quick Bite episode of Before the Weekend, Peter Schravemade is joined by Toby Balazs, CEO of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, to unpack the growing wave of regulatory pressure facing Victorian real estate professionals.

Toby discusses the proposed disclosure of auction reserve prices, changes to rental legislation, the impact of more than 150 Residential Tenancies Act changes, pressure on property managers, investor confidence, housing supply, Section 27 deposit release, AML obligations and the practical realities for agents trying to operate in a heavily regulated market.

The conversation also explores whether new rules designed to improve fairness and transparency may create unintended consequences for buyers, vendors, renters, rental providers and the wider Victorian property sector.

Reference / download link

Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 PDF Available at the website: www.beforetheweekend.com

In Episode 7 of Before the Weekend, Kasey McDonald and Peter Schravemade unpack a week where confidence became the central theme across Australian real estate.

They discuss falling auction clearance rates, Domain's forecasts for Sydney and Melbourne price falls, investor uncertainty following federal budget changes, Victoria's latest rental reforms, REIQ's Realworks transition, and the growing conversation around price transparency sparked by the Property Seeker Chrome extension.

Peter also shares key takeaways from the PIPA Summit and REISA Revolution, including AI, AML, energy efficiency ratings and the shift from transaction-focused agents to trusted advisers.

This week's feature interview is with Avi Kahn from Ray White AKG, who joins Kasey to discuss leadership, culture, growth, industry reputation, training, technology and why he would abolish price guides across Australia.

In Episode 6 of Before the Weekend, Peter Schravemade and Kasey McDonald unpack a huge week in Australian real estate, beginning with the collapse of buyer’s agency Dashdot and the serious questions it raises about upfront fees, consumer protection, trust and the property investment advice sector.

The episode also covers Queensland’s worsening rental supply crisis, with new analysis suggesting the state has lost nearly 13,000 rental bedrooms over three years, plus a Gold Coast prestige sales feud that asks who really gets to define market value: the selling agent, the buyer’s agent, the auction floor or the final buyer.

Peter and Kasey also discuss another trust account misuse case in Victoria, a Sunshine Coast unfair dismissal claim dismissed after just one week of employment, and Ben Ikin’s move into proptech as CEO of SearchX.

The feature conversation then turns to REA Group’s growing network of strategic partnerships, with Adrian Knowles, CEO of Harcourts Australia, joining to explain the Harcourts and REA Group deal, and Sadhana Smiles from REIP responding to questions about data sovereignty, REIP Nexus, proptech partnerships and whether the industry is moving closer to or further away from control of its own data.

It is a long episode, but an important one, covering trust, data, portals, technology, agency risk and the future direction of the real estate industry.