Property Agents

Do property agents act in their clients’ best interests? Industry players respond to criticism

The professional standards of property agents have improved over the years, industry players said following online criticism that some agents fall short when it comes to helping their clients and acting in their best interests. This comes after the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) said on Monday (Oct 21) that a property agent was fined S$30,000 and suspended 12 months for being unprofessional and...

Property agencies use tech to boost customer experience, help agents meet rising expectations

Just a few years ago, property agent Evonne Tang remembers flipping through the classified advertisements every morning, painstakingly perusing property listings and circling ones that could potentially interest her clients. However, all this information — and more — is now at her fingertips, thanks to mobile applications provided by property agencies, drastically reducing the time she has to spend...

Singapore property agents’ track records now available online

Would-be Housing Board buyers and sellers can now find out about property agent's track record with the click of a button. On Friday, the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) launched the Property Agents' Transaction Records Initiative, which publishes the records of residential transactions facilitated by realtors here in the last two years. The first phase of the initiative has seen the CEA's website...

Real estate firm, agent fined for mispresenting sale of New Zealand property

Real estate agency SQFT Global Properties Singapore was on Oct 4 fined S$10,000 for failing to supervise its agent with regard to the sale and marketing of a property in New Zealand. In a media release on Monday (Dec 5), the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) said Paleenia Wong Mui Wah, who was an agent with SQFT Global Properties Singapore at the time, had told an investor that the NZ$65,000 (S$65,555)...

Tech disruption comes to real estate sector: Should property agents be worried?

When she wanted to sell her flat along Hougang Avenue 4 earlier this year, Ms Lee and her husband engaged a property agent and at the same time, decided to have a go at creating their own listing on a few online property portals. “Our friends told us about these DIY (do-it-yourself) platforms and we thought: ‘Why not? There’s no harm trying’,” said the 39-year-old who declined to reveal her...

Property agencies, agents keep exiting sector amid tough market

IN a "survival of the fittest" situation in the challenging domestic property market, property agencies and agents are continuing to bow out of the industry. The latest annual report of the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) showed fewer licensed property agencies and registered property agents around at end-March this year compared to a year ago. The number of licensed property agencies has slipped...

Number of registered professionals in property sector decreasing: CEA

The number of registered professionals in the property sector in Singapore has fallen in the past year, according to data from the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) released on Thursday (Jan 21). In the past year, there were 1,299 new salespersons who joined the industry, a decrease from the 3,006 in 2014, CEA said in a news release. CEA Director of Policy and Licensing Heng Whoo Kiat said the...

Number of consumer complaints against property agents down from last year

The number of consumer complaints against property agents in Singapore fell to 702 cases in the 12 months till March 2015, down from the 751 cases in the previous 12-month period. This is according to data released by the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) in its 2014/15 annual report on Monday (Oct 12). Most of the complaints, or 46 per cent, were transactions related to HDB flats. Another 34 per...

Slump sees more than 2,000 property agents leave major firms

The annual churn compounded by the sluggish property market has led to more than 2,000 property agents leaving major real estate agencies here in the first three months of the year, industry data showed. As of Apr 1, there were 23,947 agents, an 8 per cent drop from 26,014 towards the end of last year. Earlier this week, the Ministry of Manpower’s latest labour market report showed that the number of...

Fewer becoming property agents amid sluggish market

Faced with a sluggish property market, fewer people are getting themselves licensed as real estate agents and more are leaving the industry, according to figures from the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA). As at Jan 1, there were 30,830 real estate salespersons, or agents, down from 31,783 the year before. Of the total, 3,006 were new entrants to the industry, down from 3,336 in the previous...

Compare listings

Compare