Property agents to fulfil 3 transactions in 3 years to extend licence validity periods from Jan. 1, 2027

The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) will be extending the validity periods for all property agency licences and property agent registrations from one year to three years.

To uphold industry professionalism under the extended registration period, a new Currency Requirement (CR) for property agents will be introduced, CEA said in a press release on Jul. 28, 2026.

Property agents must either complete at least three property transactions over their three-year registration period, or pass a Refresher Examination, to be eligible for registration renewal for another three years.

CEA shared that they have conducted an industry review together with the Ministry of National Development (MND) to guide the industry towards “greater efficiency and sustainability”.

They have since come up with three measures to be implemented in the near-term, with an additional eight being studied for longer-term implementation.

The council also plans to collect commission data from property agencies in the near term.

Senior Minister of State for National Development & Transport Sun Xueling announced the changes at the Singapore Estate Agents Conference, organised by the Singapore Institute of Estate Agents (SIEA), on Jul. 28, 2026.

Three in four consumers surveyed in CEA’s 2024 Public Perception Survey expected their property agents to complete at least one property transaction per year, Sun shared.

However, about 40 per cent of property agents do not meet this expectation today, she said, giving context on the need to raise industry standards.

Licence and registration validity periods extended

In consultation with the industry, the validity period for property agency licences and property agent registrations will be extended from one year to three years from Jan. 1, 2027.

This will reduce administrative workload in having to do yearly renewals as part of our pro-enterprise efforts, Sun said.

The upcoming licensing and registration renewal exercise for existing property agencies and property agents at the end of 2026 will kickstart the first three-year cycle, which will run from Jan. 1, 2027 to Dec. 31, 2029.

New property agencies and agents will be issued licences and registrations with a three-year validity period, commencing from the date they join the industry, and expiring on Dec. 31 of the third year.

CEA will continue to charge the licence and registration fees annually.

This means that property agencies and agents will not need to make a large lump sum payment at the point of renewal every three years.

Property agencies and agents will benefit from paying the application fee for renewal only once every three years, CEA said.

As at Jul. 1, 2026, there were 38,162 property agents and 1,018 property agencies in Singapore.

Currency requirement

A new Currency Requirement (CR) for property agents will also be introduced.

Under the new CR, property agents must either complete at least three property transactions over their three-year registration period, or pass a Refresher Examination, to be eligible for registration renewal for another three years.

The CR will ensure that consumers continue to receive “professional and up-to-date advice” when making important property decisions, Sun said.

With the new CR, all property agents who have not completed at least three transactions by the end of the three-year cycle are eligible to sit for the Refresher Examination and will be guaranteed a seat for the Refresher Examination.

The types of transactions recognised for the CR include: HDB resale and rental transactions, private residential sale, resale and rental transactions, commercial sale, resale and rental transactions, industrial sale, resale and rental transactions, foreign property sale transactions and en bloc transactions.

From 2023 to 2025, the median number of residential property transactions completed by each agent per year was two, a CEA spokesperson said, adding that they will begin collecting transaction records for other qualifying transaction types from Jan. 1, 2027.

The spokesperson also shared that the Refresher Examination will focus on practice-related knowledge essential for conducting estate agency work.

CEA will release more details of the Refresher Examination by the first half of 2029.

Complements annual Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirement

All existing annual requirements for property agents’ registration renewal will continue to apply even as the new measures are introduced.

Since Jan. 1, 2026, property agents have to complete 16 training hours per year under the annual Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirement to maintain their registrations.

The CR complements the CPD requirement, CEA stated.

Exemptions and waivers

There will, however, be exemptions and waivers for certain groups of agents.

New property agents who have just joined the industry will not be required to complete any transactions in their first year to allow them time to build up their skills and client base, CEA said.

They will only be required to meet the CR from their second year of registration.

This means that they will need to either complete at least two transactions over the remaining two years of their registration period, or pass the Refresher Examination, to be eligible for renewal.

Additionally, agents who are unable to meet the CR due to extenuating circumstances, such as serious medical issues or those handling complex property transactions which may take more time, may be considered for waivers on a case-by-case basis, CEA said.

A CEA spokesperson also clarified that those in management roles who do not intend to conduct estate agency work are not required to maintain their property agent registration and will hence not need to meet the CR.

Collecting commission data from property agencies

As a measure to make the industry more transparent for both consumers and property agents, Sun shared that CEA will begin collecting commission data from property agencies.

While the industry celebrates and recognises top performers today, they want prospective property agents to have a “realistic picture” of what a career in the real estate agency industry looks like, Sun said.

“We will look at the data and, in time, publish aggregated and anonymised industry-level information to help prospective property agents make better-informed career decisions,” she said.

She clarified that they are not looking to publish individual property agents’ commission figures.

A CEA spokesperson said they will collect commission data every month from property agencies starting Jan. 1, 2027.

However, CEA has not decided when to publish the data and will share more details in due course.

Further measures for transparency

Sun also shared that, to combat the prevalence of inaccurate, fake, duplicate, and unauthorised property listings, CEA has built on the work of the Alliance for Action on Accurate Property Listings and will launch a full-scale platform to verify the authenticity of online listings next year.

CEA will announce more details closer to implementation.

CEA is also studying whether to publish consumers’ ratings of their property agents on the CEA Public Register and to make it easier for consumers to access the register, Sun said.

Currently, the public can check whether a person is a registered salesperson or check whether a real estate agent is a licensed estate agent through the register.

Sun also said they are looking to require property agents and their clients to sign an Estate Agency Agreement and disclose who the agents are collecting commission from before commencing work.

“A signed agreement will give greater clarity to all parties and prevent downstream disputes,” she said.

In addition, CEA plans to conduct a survey of property agents on their property agencies to better understand how their property agencies support agents, Sun shared.

To empower consumers with more choice, Sun said they are looking into making HDB’s Resale Flat Listing the default listing platform for HDB resale flats as well as whether consumers can list their own properties directly on property portals.

Sun said they are actively studying the eight longer-term measures and will consult the industry soon.