New | Hong Kong agent Centaline is feeling threats on every side

Once the market leader in China’s real estate brokerage business, Hong Kong-based Centaline Property Agency is feeling threats arising on every side in the wake of the speedy expansion of mainland real estate agencies backed by the booming internet era.

The agent does not only face competition from mainland property agencies such as Homelink or World Union Properties Consultancy, but also competitors from online real estate platforms such as Soufun and fangdd.com.

All want a share in the country’s offline brokerage business in the new and second-hand home market, where transaction values are estimated at 10 trillion yuan (HK$12.2 trillion) a year.

“From capital to talents, they are also very strong,” said Shih Wing-ching, founder and chairman of Centaline. Shih, with a number of shareholders, established Centaline in Hong Kong in 1978 and is now the market leader in the city. It entered the mainland real estate brokerage since 1992 and now has about 1,500 outlets in more than 30 mainland cities.

‘We were once the market leader with strong presences in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. At the time, mainland agents were not familiar to the industry. They followed our business model.”

But in the wake of the booming internet era, Shih said Centaline also needs to adapt to the changing business model in China.