It is only the second time in over 100 years that a woman has held the role of president of the institute and Ms Pilkington said that she was excited about what she wants to achieve during her tenure as president.

“The reality is the market is slowing down.

“Sydney typically will experience the slowing down first before it moves out to the regional areas, but what we are finding are prices are stabilising, clearance rates are coming down and there isn’t the heat and urgency in the market that we have seen.

“So it is what we would call a transitioning market, and that is the challenge for Port Macquarie,” Ms Pilkington said.

Ms Pilkington is currently the Managing Director of Laing+Simmons and said Port Macquarie has great opportunities for young people.

“Being managing director I like to get out to our offices all over the state and talk to the teams so I have a grassroots understanding of what individual property markets are looking like.

“I have been out in Port Macquarie and I can’t believe what is going on in the local market, the development going ahead is really putting Port on the map.

“It is phenomenal the development going on, particularly with schools and roads.

“I think if you were a parent in the area you would be really excited about the amount of opportunities in Port Macquarie for kids to actually remain in the area for higher education and then for jobs as well.

“The long term health of the local market I think looks good,” she said.

Ms Pilkington also said she hopes to use her presidency to boost educational standards for the real estate industry in NSW.

“I first became involved in the REINSW Board because I was concerned about declining education standards across the industry. 

“My lobbying efforts will be focused on improving education and training.

“I will also look at the level of service that agents provide consumers and am very encouraging of women stepping out from administration roles, where they currently dominate, and into sales and property management.”