Speech by MOS Tan Kiat How at SEAA’s SG Real Estate Agents Excellence Awards 2021

Friday, 5 November 2021

I am happy to join you at the SG Real Estate Agents Excellence Awards 2021.

My warmest congratulations to all award recipients. You have exemplified not just good sales performance, but importantly a high level of professionalism to deserve today’s recognition.

Overcoming COVID-19 together

Today’s event is also a celebration of the resilience of all our property agents. You had to adapt to new ways of doing things because of COVID-19, from conducting virtual property viewings to attending Continuing Professional Development, or CPD, courses online.

Many of you have shared with me that the Safe Management Measures have made it challenging for you and your clients. For example, scheduling hassle because only smaller groups are allowed for property viewings, and how such inconveniences have led to the deferment of some project launches. I seek your patience during this period as we transit to living with COVID-19 in an endemic phase.

The Government will continue to do its best to support Singaporeans. We have taken unprecedented measures to keep construction works going safely. We have minmised delays to our BTO projects and are actively supporting affected homebuyers on their housing arrangements. Flat buyers can expect to move into their flats within 4 to 5 years after their booking.

I am also encouraged that SEAA, as a key industry association, is doing its part to support its members and the industry. In July this year, SEAA launched a new marketing course to help agents navigate the social media landscape.

SEAA has also recently enhanced its AgentKeys to allow agents to obtain an estimation of the property value with greater precision. Today, SEAA will launch a new feature in AgentKeys, called WhereNext. It provides property agents with comprehensive data analysis on newly launched projects. Agents can use these insights to enhance their marketing campaigns and better outreach to their clients. I congratulate SEAA on this launch.

Celebrating our progress

SEAA’s effort builds on the strong foundation we have put in place over the years. Together, we have raised the professionalism of the industry since the formation of the CEA in 2010. For instance, the number of complaints against property agencies and agents fell by 27% from 2011 to 2020.

We have also made good progress in transforming our industry since the launch of the Real Estate Industry Transformation Map, ITM in short, in 2018.

CEA has started publishing residential property transaction records of agents in the CEA Public Register, which is an important step to strengthen consumer confidence in our industry. Property agencies have also tapped on government grants to digitalise your agency’s processes or deploy new digital tools to benefit your agents.

Pressing on with transformation

These investments over the years have put the industry in good stead during this COVID-19 pandemic. We intend to refresh the Real Estate ITM in the coming months and position our industry to emerge stronger from COVID-19.

I would like to share four ways we can do more to transform the industry, through a “4 Ps” approach.

Professionalism

The first “P” is professionalism which is at the core of our industry.

To safeguard consumer interests, agents must have good knowledge of property-related regulations and policies. While we have made good progress, more can be done to ensure that consumers continue to be satisfied with the services of our agents.

This requires a joint effort. CEA is working with the industry under Project FOCUS to establish good practices to address the common breaches of agents. Using the lessons learnt from past complaints, property agencies must also take responsibility and ownership to supervise, counsel and train their agents to raise their level of professionalism and service quality standards. 

Being an agent is not just about knowledge. It is also about having your client’s interest at heart. I invite you to take inspiration from Ms Jacqueline French, who will be receiving the Rookies Award today. Beyond selling a property, Jacqueline sees her value-add as advising in the best interest of home buyers and sellers to facilitate an informed decision. Her achievements show that honest marketing can inspire consumer confidence and trust, and bring about good sales.

Productivity

The next “P” is increasing productivity.

We will continue to work towards digital and seamless property transactions from start-to-finish. With the adoption of property research tools, and Sign with Singpass to enable digital signatures for tenancy agreements, the industry has made good progress.

Mr Edward Yeo, a recipient of the Outstanding Youths Award, is a strong advocate of technology adoption, and he actively shares his passion with fellow agents through training sessions. I encourage you to continue to harness technology like Edward, to improve your service offerings.

On our part, CEA has also rolled out the new Advanced CEA Estate Agencies System, or ACEAS, in July this year to replace its decade-old system. We have worked hard to streamline the licensing and registration process, so you can focus on delivering quality service to clients. As with all new IT systems, there have been some teething issues, and I seek your patience as we work through them.

We will also continue to work with you on the pain points that you face in your daily work, which many have shared candidly during our engagement sessions. I have heard that at times, you face difficulties in negotiating the commission with your clients, or fellow agents for co-broking arrangements. CEA is looking into these issues.

The industry must also work together to address issues faced by our agents and agencies.

In this regard, I am pleased to announce that industry partners will be launching an Alliance-for-Action, or AfA in short. This AfA initiative seeks to eliminate duplicate and dummy listings on online property portals. This is a longstanding problem that consumers have often faced when searching for properties, and property agents too, when they conduct property searches for their clients.

I thank SEAA for stepping forward to be one of the co-leads of this AfA initiative, together with PropertyGuru and 99.co. Other members of the AfA include the large property agencies and EdgeProp. I look forward to more of such initiatives in the near future and welcome ideas on how we help you increase productivity.

Progressive

The third “P” is to be progressive. The pandemic has accelerated digitalisation trends across the board and this underscored the need for us to be nimble and stay one step ahead of these trends.

CEA has embarked on a joint study, Project ADEPT, with the industry to enhance the CPD ecosystem so that property agents will be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skillsets to thrive in the future economy. I thank SEAA for being a member and look forward to the workgroup’s recommendations.

For property agents, I encourage you to take charge of your learning, like Mr Gurdev Singh. Mr Singh is receiving the Senior Achievers Award today. He has shown tremendous spirit in upskilling since he joined the industry in 1989. He looks back fondly at the many seminars and courses he attended, including a 2-year Diploma in Facility and Property Management in 2019 at the ripe age of 70 years old! I hope that many of you will be inspired by Mr Singh and will continue to upskill and expand your knowledge, be it on the latest technologies, trends, or policies.

To support you in developing competencies, I am happy to share that the 2021 SkillsFuture Study Award for the Real Estate Agency Industry is now open for application.

Strong Partnership

The final “P” is strong partnership.

Property agents are well-positioned to advise your clients on the relevant rules and regulations, as well as to explain the considerations and values that underpin our housing and land-use policies.

An example is the Government’s approach towards public housing in prime locations and the Ethnic Integration Policy. These policies help to foster a more inclusive society, by creating ample opportunities for Singaporeans of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds to mix and interact.

Another example is the Singapore Green Plan 2030 that was launched earlier this year. As a nation, we will have to collectively make difficult but necessary choices, such as making more buildings green. These are designed and constructed with higher sustainability standards, even if their upfront costs are higher. At the same time, more homeowners may prefer to live in developments near green spaces, or where smart and sustainable elements have been incorporated.

Our policies shape our environment and society, and property decisions have significant impact on the lived experiences of many Singaporeans. Property agents, like yourselves, play a key role in advising your clients and helping them understand the intent of these policies, what these mean to them and how they can benefit.

This is important and meaningful work.

One of the Key Executive Officers, Ms Sarah Ng, whom I met recently, shared that her team was keen to learn more about property-related policies, regulations and government schemes so as to better advise their clients.

Moving forward, we will work to incorporate useful modules into the CPD training of agents, and as training modules of participating property agencies. We will work closely with other government agencies such as URA, BCA and CPF on these modules so that the learning can be relevant to all of you.

We have started to engage the industry on the refresh of the Real Estate ITM. I encourage all of you to participate in these discussions.

Conclusion

As trusted advisors, your work is more than selling a house or property, but helping your clients find a home. A home which helps your clients raise their families, sink root into the community, and contribute to building a nation.

I look forward to working with all of you to nurture a professional, productive and progressive real estate agency industry, and to do so by strengthening our partnership on this journey.

On this note, congratulations to SEAA and all award recipients on your outstanding achievements! Thank you.