The number of licensed agents fell below 40,000
The property market has fallen back a few months ago and the number of estate agents has continued to decrease. The Estate Agents Authority (the Lands Regulatory Authority) pointed out that as of Tuesday (12th), there were a total of 39,811 licensed agents in Hong Kong, a decrease of 212 (about 0.5%) from the 40023 at the end of January this year and 40123 as compared with the end of last year. The number of people reduced by 312 (about 0.8%), which was 39,834 in September last year, fell below 40,000 for the first time in the past five months. The Chairman of the Land Regulatory Bureau, Mr Leung Wing-hung, said that the trend of the number of agents would be closely monitored. However, I believe that if the figures are only in a narrow range, the problem should be small.
The Bureau of Land Supervision plans to count the number of frontline brokers
Liang Yongxiang pointed out that as of the 12th of this month, there were 21,597 salesperson licenses (commonly known as S or fine), which was a decrease of 170 (about 0.8%) from 21,767 at the end of last year. In the same period, 18,214 people held real estate. Agency (personal) licenses (commonly known as E or big names), compared with 18,356 at the end of last year, a decrease of 142 or about 0.8%.
According to the Land Registry, 5589 cases of whole building transactions were registered in January this year. Based on the above-mentioned general agent figures, an average of about 7 agents competed for one transaction. However, Mr Leung pointed out that in fact, not only one agent can obtain commissions for each transaction. In fact, many licensed persons are not engaged in front-line agency work. Many other industries such as the surveying and banking sectors need to hold agents. The license, etc., is trying to count the number of people actually engaged in front-line agency work in the market.
In recent years, many overseas properties have been sold in Hong Kong. Liang Yongxiang pointed out that since non-licensed agents are not subject to regulatory supervision, it is recommended that prospective purchasers should purchase overseas properties from licensed agents. They should also understand the project location and developer background before buying property. data.
Last year, the Bureau of Land Supervision had uploaded a publicity video, mentioning the new commission rebate, etc., and was criticized by the agency industry for teaching the public to ask the agent for a commission. Mr Leung stressed that the above statement was not established. In the past, the record of the agency’s return on commission was unclear. There were frequent complaints from the public. The Administration had “have to deal with the problem first”. It may be re-uploaded after the relevant short film is improved in the future. According to the information of the Bureau of Land Supervision, there were 28 complaints about the failure of the agent to fulfill the promise of return in 2017 and 2018.