Update on licensing and Registration exercise for Estate Agents and Salespersons

As at 1 January 2016, the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) has licensed 1,369 estate agents and registered 29,262 salespersons. A total of 104 estate agents and 3,573 salespersons left the industry. In the past year, there were 1,299 new salespersons who joined the industry. This is a decrease from the 3,006 new salespersons in 2014.

The number of licensed estate agents and registered salespersons as at 1 January over the last three years is shown in Table 1.

The number of new salespersons into the industry over the last three years is show in Table 2.

Commenting on the overall decrease in the number of registered salespersons, Mr Heng Whoo Kiat, Director, Policy & Licensing, CEA, said, “This could be a reflection of the property market sentiments.” He added that salespersons are also probably mindful of the cost of being in the industry. Under CEA’s regulatory framework, salespersons are obliged to commit time and resources to meet the continuing professional development requirements for annual renewal of their registration. As for new entrants to the industry, they have to complete a course and pass a qualification examination.