Hong Kong estate agents’ watchdog working on guidelines to eliminate fake online listings

The Estate Agents Authority (EAA) plans to crack down on misleading property advertisements as agents continue to market a host of properties at below-market values and even after they have been rented out.

Last week, Ricacorp Properties took the initiative to remove 9,000 property listings from more than 15,000 on its website because they either had false information or were duplicates, resulting from multiple uploads by different agents.

Other major agents including Centaline Property Agency; Midland Realty, Hong Kong Property Services (Agency) and mainland property agency Qfang said all their listing information was accurate.

The authority, which regulates 39,577 licensed property agents in Hong Kong, said it was looking to impose additional requirements relating to offline and online property advertisements and plans to “announce details in due course”.

“The EAA will enhance the manpower to conduct inspections and spot checks, and will issue a letter to the owners/management of estate agency companies to remind them about the relevant requirements on issuing advertisements,” the authority said in a written reply to SCMP.