Fewer property agencies amid rising costs, tighter rules

Tougher anti-money-laundering compliance requirements cited as one reason for dip

- Joyce Lim Senior Correspondent

The number of property agencies here is dropping amid rising operating costs and stricter regulatory requirements, and slower overall growth in the number of property agents.

Latest figures from open government data portal Data.gov.sg showed that the number of property agencies with valid registrations fell by 47 from 2025, taking the total down to 998 as at Jan 1, 2026.

Data from the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) public register showed there were 1,118 agencies at the start of 2023, so the decline represents about a 10 per cent drop over the past three years.

Despite the fewer agencies, the number of registered property agents grew by 2.15 per cent year on year to about 36,835 agents as at Jan 1, easing slightly from the 2.2 per cent growth recorded the previous year and 2.4 per cent in 2024, Huttons Data Analytics figures showed.

Industry players attributed the drop in the number of agencies and slower agent growth to rising operating and advertising costs, tighter anti-money-laundering (AML) compliance requirements, higher training obligations and retirements among older agency owners.

Under the expanded framework, which took effect on July 31, 2025, property agents must conduct stricter due-diligence checks on both clients and unrepresented parties in a transaction, and verify sources of funds for high-risk deals. They are required to guard against proliferation financing – the provision of funds for the illicit development and supply of weapons of mass destruction and related materials.