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Number of property agents increase in 2019, even as the number of firms decline

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

January 4, 2019 10:51 PM SGT

The number of licensed property agents increased 2% to 29,146 as at Jan 1, 2019 from 28,571 a year ago, according to the Council of Estate Agencies (CEA). However, the number of licensed property agencies dropped 3% to 1,229 at the start of the year, from 1,269 the year before.

“Notwithstanding a slight increase in the number of registered property agents compared to the same time last year, the industry continues to face a challenging road ahead with rising consumer expectations and technological disruption,” says Chia I-Ling, CEA director of policy & licensing.

As at Jan 1, 2019, there was a slight increase in the number of licensed property agents compared to a year ago (Photo Credit: Property Agent)

The four biggest agencies – PropNex, ERA, OrangeTee & Tie and Huttons Asia – have a total of 21,013 property agents, or 72% of the market share. The biggest of the four agencies, PropNex, has 7,400 agents, while Huttons Asia has 3,067. In fifth place is Savills Residential with 672 agents, followed by Knight Frank, with 632 agents. Following up in seventh place is SRI, which has 591 agents. (See Table of Top 10 Agencies).

Source: CEA

Source: CEA

In 2018, CEA issued 57 new property agency licenses, while the number of new property agents was 1,198. However, 59 property agency licenses had lapsed over the year, and 2,091 property agents had failed to renew their licenses.

Source: CEA

CEA also launched a new initiative to publish property agents’ transaction records, along with their latest registration and licensing numbers in the estate agency industry. From Jan 4, information on completed resale transactions for Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats closed by registered property agents will be made available on the CEA Public Register on the CEA website.

The initiative to publish property agents’ transaction records is aimed at making property agents’ information more transparent to consumers for their selection of a property agent to help them buy, sell, or rent a residential property, according to CEA. Property agents will be able to provide verified records of their experience in closing residential transactions, which will help them build and sustain consumer trust.

The HDB flat resale transactions will be based on the information submitted by the agents to HDB and will be updated on the 15th of each month (Photo Credit: Albert Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

Consumers will have a clearer picture of the agent’s experience in closing HDB resale transactions, as information will include details of the HDB estates where the deals took place over the past two years, and whether the agent acted on behalf of the buyer or seller. The HDB flat resale transactions will be based on the information submitted by the agents to HDB and will be updated on the 15th of each month.

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