Hong Kong realtors never had it so good, hiring record number of agents in city’s real estate boom

Hong Kong realtors have never had it this good. The city’s two dominant realtors are opening a record number of branches and offices throughout the city, taking advantage of a real estate boom that’s sent prices to records month after month, boosting their fee income.

Developers are scheduled to bring a record 19,000 new apartment units to market in the second half, prompting agencies to hire aggressively to bulk up their sales force in preparation for the additional supply.

As many as 38,042 property agents are now licensed to work in the city, according to the Hong Kong Estate Agents Authority. The number of applicants have risen for three straight months, as agencies aggressively expand to gear up for growth.

“We’re accelerating our scale as it’s now a winner-takes-all market,” said Centaline Property Agency’s residential managing director Louis Chan, who’s expanding his sales force by 8.6 per cent to 6,300 agents in 440 offices by the year’s end. “In Tsuen Wan alone, we added 10 branches this year, mostly next to the exits of the Tsuen Wan West” subway station, he said.

Centaline’s main competitor Midland Realty is keeping up, adding 23 branches to its network this year, with another 37 in the pipeline. The agency is aiming to expand its sales force to 5,000 agents across 300 offices by the year’s end, said its residential department chief executive Sammy Po Siu-min.

“We’re pushing forward our fast expansion, and hopefully can get 40 per cent market share in the primary market by the year-end,” he said.