Property agents need to complete minimum number of transactions for licence renewal from 2027: CEA

SINGAPORE: Property agents must complete at least three property transactions over three years, or pass a refresher examination to be eligible for registration renewal from 2027, Senior Minister of State for National Development Sun Xueling announced on Tuesday (Jul 28). In line with this, the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) will extend the validity periods for all property agency licences and agent registrations from one year to three years. The first three-year cycle will run from Jan 1, 2027 to Dec 31, 2029. Speaking at the Singapore Estate Agents Conference at the Lifelong Learning Institute, Ms Sun also announced several longer-term measures that are being studied, including allowing consumer ratings for individual agents and letting sellers list their properties directly on property portals. Ms Sun said the Ministry of National Development (MND) and CEA have engaged some property agents on how they can work together to further strengthen the industry. "Our focus has been on three areas: first, raising professional standards; second, enhancing transparency within the industry; third, giving consumers greater clarity and choice in an evolving property market," she said.

NEW REQUIREMENT Ms Sun said the regulator has received feedback about the currency of knowledge of property agents who have not transacted over extended periods. While three in four consumers surveyed in CEA's 2024 Public Perception Survey expected their property agents to complete at least one property transaction per year, about 40 per cent of property agents do not meet this expectation today. As of Jul 1, there were 38,162 property agents and 1,018 property agencies in Singapore. CEA said that from 2023 to 2025, the median number of residential property transactions completed by each agent per year was two. This figure covers only residential property transactions as CEA does not currently collect information on non-residential property transactions. CNA first reported in 2024 that CEA was mulling a minimum transaction requirement for property agents to remain registered, following concerns raised during industry engagement sessions. Property agents currently do not have to meet a minimum number of transactions to renew their registrations. Under the new requirement, all property agents who have not completed at least three transactions by the end of the three-year cycle are eligible to sit for the refresher examination, CEA said in a media release. Those who fail to meet the requirements and wish to return to the industry must retake and pass the real estate salesperson examination. CEA said the refresher exam will focus on practice-related knowledge essential for conducting estate agency work. Further details of the exam will be announced by the first half of 2029.

The minimum number of transactions ensures that agents maintain currency of knowledge and provide up-to-date advice to their clients, the regulator said. Recognised transactions include the sale, purchase and rental of Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats and private homes, as well as commercial and industrial properties, foreign property sales and bloc sales. CEA said the requirement has been set over three years to account for fluctuations in the property market, such as periods of low transaction volume due to market downturns. “This gives property agents sufficient time and flexibility to meet the requirements without being unduly pressured to transact,” the regulator added. In response to CNA's queries, CEA said that people in management roles who do not intend to conduct estate agency work are not required to maintain their property agent registration and will not need to meet the new requirements. For the majority of property transactions, CEA will recognise one property agent for each side of a completed property transaction. However, for certain complex transactions, such as en bloc transactions or the sale of high-end commercial or industrial properties, CEA may recognise more than one agent for each side of a transaction, on a case-by-case basis. New property agents who have just joined the industry will not be required to complete any transactions in their first year, CEA said. This gives them time to build up their skills and client base. From their second year of registration, they will be required to meet the new requirement. This means they will need to either complete at least two transactions over the remaining two years of their registration period, or pass the refresher examination, to be eligible for renewal. Agents who are unable to meet the requirement due to extenuating circumstances, such as serious medical issues or those handling complex property transactions that may take more time, may be considered for waivers on a case-by-case basis, CEA said. Executive director of CEA Chan Khar Liang said with property transactions being “one of the largest financial decisions” Singaporeans make, it is important that property agents meet the new requirement. “During our engagements with industry stakeholders, they have consistently highlighted the potential risk posed by property agents who do not complete transactions regularly – that these agents may be less familiar with evolving rules and regulations, property transaction processes, and market trends, which could inadvertently affect the accuracy of advice given to clients,” he added. CEA said the new requirement complements the annual continuing professional development requirement (CPD), an existing registration renewal criterion for property agents. Since Jan 1, 2026, property agents have to complete 16 CPD training hours per year to maintain their registrations. This requirement will continue to apply.

THREE-YEAR VALIDITY Existing property agencies and agents will transition to a three-year licence or registration from Jan 1, 2027, replacing the current one-year validity period. To conduct estate agency work, property agencies are required to apply for a licence, while property agents must be registered through a licensed property agency. Ms Sun said the extension of the validity period will reduce administrative workload in having to do yearly renewals. "Most property agents continually upgrade themselves, stay active in the market and serve their clients professionally. Therefore, we will no longer require property agents to renew their registrations on a yearly basis," she said. Despite the move to a three-year renewal cycle, licensing and registration fees will continue to be charged annually. This means that property agencies and agents will not need to make a large lump sum payment at the point of renewal every three years. For property agencies, the licensing fee starts from S$330 (US$255) a year, and goes up to at least S$40,000, depending on their size. Property agents pay S$280 a year for their registration fee. Separately, the application fee for renewal is currently payable once every two years. From 2027, agencies and agents will pay the fee only once every three years. The application fee is S$120 for agencies, and S$60 for agents. New property agencies and agents who join the industry on or after Jan 1, 2027, will commence their three-year licence or registration from the date when they join the industry. Their licence or registration will end on Dec 31 of the third year. For example, if a property agent joins the industry on Apr 1, 2027, his or her registration will end on Dec 31, 2029.

IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY, CHOICE Ms Sun also announced a set of measures aimed at making the industry more transparent for both consumers and property agents. For one, CEA will begin collecting commission data from property agencies. This will be collected on a monthly basis from Jan 1, 2027. CEA has not decided when to publish the data and will share more details in due course. Today, the industry celebrates and recognises top performers, she said. "At the same time, we want prospective property agents to have a realistic picture of what a career in the real estate agency industry looks like," she said. "We will be looking at the data and, in time, publish aggregated and anonymised industry-level information to help prospective property agents make better-informed career decisions. Now, to be very clear, we are not looking to publish individual property agents’ commission figures." A common concern raised by both property agents and consumers is the prevalence of inaccurate, fake, duplicated and unauthorised property listings, Ms Sun added. To address this, CEA has built on the work of the Alliance for Action on Accurate Property Listings and will be launching a full-scale platform to verify the authenticity of online listings next year. The platform will conduct backend verification checks and assign a unique code to property listings before they are published, CEA said in response to media queries. The regulator is also studying whether to publish consumers' ratings of their property agents on the CEA public register, while making it easier for consumers to access the register. Currently, the CEA Public Register provides consumers with the licence and registration details of any property agency and property agent. People can also view the records of residential property transactions completed by property agents in the past 36 months, Singapore Institute of Estate Agents (SIEA) Awards received, if any, as well as enforcement actions taken against agencies and agents. "We are also looking to require property agents and their clients to sign an Estate Agency Agreement and to disclose who the agents are collecting commission from before commencing work,” said Ms Sun. This is a binding contract that protects the interests of both parties and reduces potential disputes over the property agent’s roles and responsibilities. “A signed agreement will give greater clarity to all parties and prevent downstream disputes," said Ms Sun. Ms Sun added that CEA plans to conduct a survey of property agents about their agencies to better understand how agencies support their agents. To help buyers and sellers make informed decisions, the government is studying whether to make HDB's resale flat listing service the default listing platform for HDB flats, Ms Sun said. It is currently not mandatory for property agents and sellers to list HDB resale flats on the RFL service. Since its launch in May 2024, more than 12,500 verified listings have been published, with over 60 per cent of the flats listed proceeding to complete the transaction. "This is not intended to replace existing property portals, and property agents and sellers will still be able to continue advertising on other platforms as well," Ms Sun said. The government is also studying whether consumers can list their properties directly on property portals, which would give consumers who wish to transact without engaging a property agent more visibility and options. The proposed changes follow other measures introduced by CEA this year. On Jan 1, CEA implemented a revised continuing professional development framework, which required property agents to complete 16 total training hours each calendar year. In June, the regulator also enhanced its public register, allowing consumers to access property agents’ and agencies’ enforcement records from the past three years.