More people take property agent exam in the first half amid boom
More people sat for the exams to qualify as real estate agents and salespersons to ride on the property boom in the first half of this year, said William Leung Wing-cheung, chairman of the Estate Agents Authority (EAA).
In the first half of 2017, the number of candidates sitting for the Estate Agents Qualifying Examination surged by more than 37 per cent to 2,316, up from 1,683 in the first six months of 2016 . Candidates for the Salespersons Qualifying Examination jumped from 2,334 to 3,860, up 65 per cent.
The increases were in tandem with the rise in property transactions. The number of first-hand property transactions in the first half of 2017 rose 74 per cent to 9,818 on the year, up from 5,633. Transactions in the second-hand property market rose 56 per cent to 22,295, from 14,288.
The EAA also received fewer complaints in the first six months of the year, with the number of cases down from 248 in the first half of 2016 to 184.
“Complaints related to overseas property dropped from 10 cases in 2016, to three only in the first half of 2017, year-on-year,” Leung said.
But complaints involving the provision of inaccurate or misleading information in first-hand property activities recorded an increase to six in the first half of 2017, up from one in the year-earlier period.
“Two of them are related to misrepresentations on operation of the credit card payment mechanism,” Leung added.
When asked how the authority would deal with property agents and salespersons who assault each other to compete for customers, Leung said they might hold the related property companies accountable if their staff were involved.
“Agents or salespeople involved in such cases may have their licenses revoked,” Leung added.
