Akash Bedi is the 2022 president of the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board.

Marina R. James, CEO of the board, says Bedi “is a consummate professional and very much attune to keeping up on industry-wide trends as well as issues and opportunities that affect us at the local level in our region.”

Bedi has dedicated many hours of volunteer time serving on or heading up WRREB committees. He also serves as a director of the Manitoba Real Estate Association.

He began his real estate career in 2003 and was a salesperson for 12 years before he became broker of Re/Max Executives Realty in 2015. In 2017 he became the owner and team leader of two large Re/Max Executive offices. Bedi is a second-generation Realtor – his father Baldev Bedi has been in real estate for over 40 years.

“As someone growing up in the ’80s and ’90s assisting my father in real estate, I learned what it means to be a Realtor and gained an appreciation of it as a potential career for myself,” says Bedi. “Our MLS system has come a long way since then and I am glad to see WRREB evolve its regional approach to real estate growth, be it in residential or commercial, along with all of the services and products we provide our members.”

Bedi has been diversifying his breadth of learning and experience by specializing in areas such as land development and investment, multi-family, rentals and new construction. His expertise in these other areas of real estate will be invaluable as housing supply issues will be front and centre in 2022, says the board in a news release.

“My background in development and new construction gives me insight into the need for cities like Winnipeg to get out in front of their infrastructure service requirements so we are able to build more housing supply for a growing population,” says Bedi. “2022 is an ideal year to put focus on this important issue as candidates running for municipal office this fall will be seeking our support.”

As for what lies ahead from an industry point of view in 2022, Bedi points to Manitoba’s new Real Estate Services Act and the regulations that come with it. The board says “considerable effort has gone into to making the transition as smooth as possible with the provincial association in direct consultation with the Manitoba Securities Commission and it will be ongoing throughout this year.”

“I am looking forward to applying my experience and industry insights to lead our real estate board in a year that ushers in more change in how we conduct our business so we can serve buyers and sellers in a more professional and efficient manner throughout our regional market,” says Bedi.

Bedi’s first chance to address members and the public will be at WRREB’s virtual Market Insights event on February 17 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. This free event sponsored by CIBC is an opportunity for people to understand what transpired in 2021 and gain insights on what to expect in 2022 from both local and national speakers, the board says. A comprehensive recap and summary of MLS activity during 2021 will be presented, as well as setting the stage for 2022. Trevor Clay, a commercial Realtor with Capital Commercial Real Estate Services in Winnipeg and a former WRREB Commercial Division chair, will give an overview on commercial real estate and trends and development in 2022 and beyond.

The board says the keynote speaker, who presented at WRREB’s inaugural annual forecast breakfast in 2007 and was well received, is Peter Norman, vice president and chief economist of Altus Group. They will join WREBB’s vice president of external relations and market intelligence Peter Squire to answer any questions following their presentations.