Some property agents using bait-style listings to lure buyers

Such tactics becoming more common in a competitive market, say industry players

- Joyce Lim Senior Correspondent

The Straits Times reviewed more than 100 listings across major portals, uncovering a pattern of similar practices that suggests that the issue extends beyond a single agency. PHOTO: PROPERTYGURU

(PROPERTYGURU)

Anew four-bedroom freehold condominium unit in Bedok’s Bagnall Haus was advertised on the PropertyGuru website for $2.988 million, about $100,000 less than the actual price of the unit.

In another listing, a three-bedroom condo unit at the freehold Arcady in Boon Keng was priced at $2.33 million, even though the agent, when contacted, said the price was in fact above $2.4 million.

Such glossy listings, featuring stylishly decorated show-flat images and promises of “genuine best price” or “direct from developer” price, urge buyers to act quickly before such coveted units are snapped up.

Industry players said this sort of tactic is becoming more common in a crowded and highly competitive property market.

The Straits Times reviewed more than 100 listings across major portals, uncovering a pattern of similar practices that suggests the issue extends beyond a single agency.

Followup calls to six property agents showed that they did not have the properties available at the advertised prices. Instead, they tried to steer the buyer to other units, at higher prices.

The review was prompted after a Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) post on Jan 8 revealed that ERA Realty Network had been issued a letter of censure for supervisory lapses involving one of its agents.

It was the first time a property agency that is ranked among the top five in terms of headcount has been censured.

Between December 2021 and February 2022, ERA agent Abel Ang Pei Xiong posted three online advertisements for three new developments, with prices significantly lower than the developers’ asking prices. The price difference ranged from $260,000 to over $1 million.