These are worrying times for Hong Kong's real estate agents. New mortgages fell to a 28-month low of 6,579 in September, according to data from the Land Registry. Monthly transactions have slumped by more than half - from about 14,000 recorded at the market's peak last year - after being hit by the double whammy of Chinese government measures to curb property speculation and the still unravelling financial turmoil, particularly in Europe.
There are roughly 33,000 licensed real estate agents in the city, though Denys Kwan, president of the Society of Hong Kong Real Estate Agents, says only about half of them are active.
Notwithstanding this, there are still about 16,000 agents fighting over 6,000 transactions per month - nearly three agents for one potential deal.
The dropout rate for new agents in the first year is typically around 50 per cent and a lot of them may now quit due to the market downturn, returning when the market rebounds, which is not the right approach, according to Kwan.
'Many of them seem to have the wrong impression - that selling property is very profitable and very easy. They think they only need to seal a couple of good deals to generate enough income for a year,' he says. 'There are only a few agents who can do that and those people have been in the business for many years. This business is not about luck but lots of investment in terms of time and hard work,' he adds.
The Society of Hong Kong Real Estate Agents seeks to promote its members' professionalism and profitability, and Kwan advises those in the trade to try to turn adversity into opportunity, and use downtime to bolster themselves against future challenges.