News analysis

New rules for property agents likely to weed out inactive ones, help consumers make better decisions

SINGAPORE – From the start of next year, property agents will have to complete at least three transactions over three years, or pass a refresher examination to remain in the industry.

The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) will also start collecting agents’ commission data monthly, and may publish aggregated industry figures to help prospective agents decide whether or not to join the industry.

These changes will kick in from Jan 1, 2027, and are part of an industry review to raise professional standards and improve transparency.

They will also give consumers greater clarity and choice when making property transactions. Among other things, keeping agents active and up to date reduces the risk of financial losses from misleading advice or procedural lapses.

But such measures are also likely to weed out some inactive agents and give prospective entrants a more realistic picture of the profession.

Over the longer term, the authorities are considering making the Housing Board’s Resale Flat Listing service the default platform for HDB resale advertisements. They are also studying whether property owners should be allowed to advertise directly on commercial portals.

This could give homeowners more ways to transact independently, reducing the need for agents to be involved.

The changes come two months after CEA made it easier for buyers and sellers to view the disciplinary records of property agents online, following a rise in complaints and enforcement cases taken against agents.

The number of property agents has gone up by almost 30 per cent since Jan 1, 2017. Then, there were 28,397 agents, compared with 36,816 at the start of this year.

As at Jan 1, 2026, there were 32,967 agents who had been registered since 2023. About four in 10 – or 12,920 – did not complete at least three residential transactions between 2023 and 2025, CEA said.

In the same period, the median number of residential transactions completed by each agent annually was two.

The council has not said that it is trying to reduce the number of property agents. Its position is that it does not impose a cap on the industry, and agents must conduct their work professionally and in their clients’ best interests.

ERA Singapore key executive officer Eugene Lim estimated the total number of agents may fall by 10 to 20 per cent, after the first three-year cycle ends on Dec 31, 2029.

At present, agents do not need to close deals to keep their licences, as long as they meet annual Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements, said Lim, noting that this helped create the current large pool of agents.

He also pointed out that the Real Estate Salespersons exam is not easy and most people do not pass on their first attempt, adding that he does not expect the new refresher exam to be easy either.

Other agencies agreed that there would likely be some attrition as inactive agents may choose not to renew their registrations.

Explaining the requirement for agents to close a minimum three deals in three years, CEA said this figure was based on its 2024 Public Perception Survey. The survey found that 74 per cent of consumers expect agents to complete at least one transaction a year to remain familiar with the latest rules and guidelines.

Assessing the requirement over three years would allow for fluctuations in the property market and periods of weaker transaction activity, CEA added.

But for this to be effective at weeding out agents who are truly inactive, some enforcement is needed.

PropNex associate group district director Loyalle Chin said the new requirement must be backed by robust checks, to ensure that deals attributed to agents were genuinely handled by them.

“For example, an active agent could pass transactions to a spouse who is registered but inactive, simply to help that person meet the threshold,” he said.

CEA’s position is that it recognises one agent for each side – one for the buyer or tenant, and one for the seller or landlord. It is an offence to submit false or misleading information.

What agents really earn

The move to publish commission data could also make joining the industry a less attractive option.

The ranks of property agents have swelled in recent years. Newcomers are often drawn by the potential for high earnings, with market watchers saying that a buoyant property market may add to that appeal.

A commission tied to a million-dollar transaction can appear substantial, especially when social media posts often highlight successful agents and their earnings.

Lim, who is also president of Singapore Institute of Estate Agents, also said many real estate agents are graduates or mid-career workers who hope to be entrepreneurs, compared with a fixed pay desk bound job.

CEA’s move to collect and potentially publish commission figures will help give potential entrants a more complete picture.

But agencies also noted that gross commission figures are not the same as agents’ take-home income, as they do not account for expenses like marketing, portal subscriptions, transport, professional development and operating costs.

Together, the requirements to disclose commission data and have agents stay current could see fewer people joining the profession for the wrong reasons and inactive agents leaving the industry.

And the proposed longer-term measure to make it easier for homeowners to transact independently could have a similar effect.

If more homeowners choose to go without an agent, demand for agents could moderate. Over time, this could also affect the number of new entrants to the industry.

However, it would also mean that consumers without professional training are conducting such big-ticket transactions, which are often complex.

As such, the authorities will need to provide guidance for the average consumer, and have safeguards in place to protect both buyers and sellers.

For now, these longer-term proposals are still being studied. CEA has said it will continue consulting those in the industry before deciding which measures to implement.

But even the immediate changes to tighten renewal requirements and increase transparency over earnings have the potential to reshape the industry. CEA may not have set out to shrink the industry, but these moves are likely to reduce the ranks of real estate agents.