Wong Heang Fine, president of the Real Estate Developer’s Association of Singapore, said concerns exist
because of the global economic outlook.
‘We are cautious. On the market going forward, it all depends on how the global economy goes in the next
eleven months. So it’s really anybody’s guess,’ he said.
Prices of private residential properties have been falling moderately for the last few months and rentals are
also tapering off.
While home sales in January are expected to be high, REDAS is warning that the figures do not indicate how
the rest of the market will perform this year. ‘January figures are generated by the new launches of two or
three projects. So the numbers itself does not really reflect the entire state of the market,’ explained
Fine.
Png Poh Soon, director of research at Knight Frank, believes that the additional buyer’s stamp duty had some
impact on buyer sentiment.
Figures also show that the number of property agents registered with the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA)
has fallen by nearly 11% since new rules were introduced a year ago.
As of the start of the year there were about 30,600 real estate agents licensed to practice, down from 34,300
last January. There are also fewer property agencies in business, down by 5% to less than 1,500.
The estate agency watchdog said property agents who did not continue with their registration were part timers
who opted to focus on their full time jobs, or had found a full time job. CEA added that of the 2,700 new
agents who joined the industry last year, eight in 10 have tertiary education. Currently, only five in 10
existing agents have tertiary education.
Apart from passing a mandatory examination, registered property agents also have to undergo six hours of
compulsory professional development course to keep abreast of policy changes.
Some industry players said new agents face a tough time juggling this and closing property deals.
‘In the real estate industry, the first year is a very tough and important year. For any new agent who joins
the industry, you have to go for courses, you go for exams,’ said PropNex director David Poh.
‘Then you go for further training, prospect for clients, and buy and sell for clients. And many times, your
first deal will come six or nine months down the road. For many agents, you probably won’t see any income
until about a year later. So it is quite common for agents to leave within the first year,’ he explained.
