From 1 January 2027, property agents in Singapore will need to complete at least three qualifying transactions within a three-year registration period to renew their registration.
Those who fall short can instead pass a refresher examination.
However, several agents told CNA that the transaction requirement could potentially be circumvented by recording another agent’s deal under the name of someone who was not actually involved.
This is not an approved workaround. The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) said falsely attributing a transaction to another agent is an offence that could lead to prosecution.
How the New Requirement Works
The new “currency requirement” will begin alongside a shift from annual registration renewals to a three-year cycle.
The first cycle will run from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2029.
Qualifying deals include residential, commercial and industrial transactions, foreign property sales and en bloc sales. For most transactions, CEA will recognise one property agent representing each side.
That person should be the agent who dealt directly with the client and carried out most of the estate agency work, CEA told CNA.
More than one agent on each side may be recognised for complex deals, such as certain en bloc, commercial or industrial transactions. Agencies will have to provide evidence of the agents’ involvement, and CEA will assess these cases individually.
Agents who do not complete three qualifying transactions are guaranteed a place in the refresher examination. Details about the exam are expected in the first half of 2029.
An agent who neither meets the transaction threshold nor passes the exam cannot renew their registration. To return later, they would have to complete the Real Estate Salesperson course and pass its examination again.
Agents Say Deals Could Be Recorded Under Someone Else’s Name
CNA interviewed eight property agents, most of whom spoke anonymously. Most said they knew of the practice of attributing transactions to agents who had done little or none of the work.
Under the potential arrangement described to CNA, an active agent could have a deal recorded under an inactive colleague’s name. The commission would then be transferred to the agent who actually handled the transaction.
Some agents said this could be difficult to detect because property teams often collaborate, making it less straightforward to determine precisely how much work each person performed.
However, there is an important difference between merely placing someone’s name on a completed deal and genuinely handing a client over to that agent.
For example, an inactive agent could legitimately take charge of a lead, serve the client and complete the transaction. In that case, the agent would have performed the estate agency work rather than simply receiving credit on paper.
The concerns reported by CNA concern what agents believe could happen after the rule takes effect. They do not establish that the new requirement has already been circumvented.
False Transaction Records Can Lead to Jail or a Fine
CEA said property agencies and agents are required under the Estate Agents Act to provide transaction records to the regulator.
Recording a deal under one agent’s name when another agent handled it would amount to submitting false or misleading information, according to CEA.
An offender can be prosecuted and face up to 12 months in jail, a fine of up to S$10,000, or both.
Some inactive agents interviewed by CNA also questioned whether keeping their registration through such an arrangement would be worthwhile, especially when they were not earning an income from property work.
About 40% Fell Below the Future Benchmark
CEA told CNA that about 40 per cent of agents registered with the regulator since 2023 had not completed at least three residential property transactions during the preceding three years.
More precisely, CEA previously said this covered 12,920 of 32,967 agents registered since 2023, based on their residential transactions from 2023 to 2025.
The median was two residential transactions per agent each year during that period.
These figures do not necessarily mean all those agents would fail the new requirement. The historical data covered residential transactions, while the upcoming rule will also recognise several other transaction types.
New agents will also receive some flexibility. They will be exempt from the requirement during their first calendar year, after which they must complete two transactions over the remaining two years or pass the refresher exam.
CEA may also review cases involving exceptional circumstances, such as serious illness or an unusually complex transaction that takes a long time to complete.
