The number of property agents in Singapore fell by 1,583 in the year to March 2016, said the CEA in its latest report.
The number of licensed real estate agents in Singapore fell to 30,423 in the year to March 2016 from 32,006 over the same period last year, revealed the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA).
There are also fewer agents joining the industry, with new registrations granted by the CEA dropping to 1,307 from 1,654 previously.
Nonetheless, the number of agents who did not renew their licenses dipped to 2,890 in March from 3,146 a year ago.
The CEA attributed the non-renewal of registrations to various reasons, including some agents taking a hiatus, while others left the industry.
The report also highlighted the declining number of licensed real estate agencies, which fell from 1,422 in March 2015 to 1,372 in March this year.
This comes as the CEA granted only 58 new licenses during the period, while 108 licenses were not renewed.
The industry body attributed the non-renewal of licences to several factors, such as some firms closing shop, merging with other agencies, or handling other types of work like property management.
Meanwhile, the CEA revealed that there has been a steady decline in customer complaints on a per 1,000 transactions basis.
“In terms of per 1,000 transactions, there is a steady decline in the number of complaints over the years – from around 15 six years ago to about five in FY2014/15, and about 4.5 in FY2015/16,” it said.
The absolute number of complaints, however, increased to 780 from 702 in 2015.
The CEA explained that the increase in complaints “should be viewed in the context that there was an increase in the overall number of property transactions during the year in review”.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
