Written Answer by Ministry of National Development on number of people working as real estate agents or salespersons and the breakdown in terms of full-time employment, part-time employment, educational qualification, age, gender and nationality
Apr 5, 2021
Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan: To ask the Minister for National Development for each of the years from 2010 to 2020 (a) how many people in the labour force are working as real estate agents or salespersons; and (b) what is the breakdown for such persons in terms of full-time employment, part-time employment, educational qualification, age, gender and nationality.
Answer:
The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) was set up in Oct 2010 to regulate the real estate agency industry. The annual number of real estate salespersons (RESs) since CEA’s formation is as follows:
Table 1: Number of RESs from 2011 – 2021#
|
Year
|
2011
|
2012
|
2013
|
2014
|
2015
|
|
Number of RES
|
28,766
|
30,577
|
31,040
|
31,783
|
30,830
|
|
Year
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018
|
2019
|
2020
|
2021
|
|
Number of RES
|
29,262
|
28,397
|
28,571
|
29,146
|
30,073
|
30,399
|
# All figures are as at 1 Jan of the respective years except for 2011 where the figure was published on 9 Jan 2011 due to the transition to the then new regulatory regime when CEA was set up in Oct 2010.
Based on available records, the breakdown of the RES population in terms of age, gender, nationality and education for the past five years is as follows:
Table 2: Breakdown of RES population by age*
|
Age
|
2017
|
2018
|
2019
|
2020
|
2021
|
|
29 and below
|
2%
|
4%
|
4%
|
5%
|
3%
|
|
30 to 39
|
20%
|
23%
|
22%
|
22%
|
19%
|
|
40 to 49
|
34%
|
34%
|
34%
|
33%
|
33%
|
|
50 to 59
|
27%
|
26%
|
26%
|
25%
|
27%
|
|
60 to 69
|
14%
|
12%
|
13%
|
12%
|
15%
|
|
Above 70
|
3%
|
2%
|
2%
|
2%
|
3%
|
Table 3: Breakdown of RES population by gender*
|
Gender
|
2017
|
2018
|
2019
|
2020
|
2021
|
|
Female
|
48%
|
48%
|
48%
|
48%
|
48%
|
|
Male
|
52%
|
52%
|
52%
|
52%
|
52%
|
Table 4: Breakdown of RES population by nationality*
|
Nationality
|
2017
|
2018
|
2019
|
2020
|
2021
|
|
Singapore Citizens
|
91.0%
|
91.3%
|
91.6%
|
92.0%
|
92.2%
|
|
Permanent Residents
|
8.9%
|
8.6%
|
8.3%
|
8.0%
|
7.7%
|
|
Foreigners
|
0.1%
|
0.1%
|
0.1%
|
0.1%
|
0.1%
|
Table 5: Breakdown of RES population by educational qualification*
|
Education qualification
|
2017
|
2018
|
2019
|
2020
|
2021
|
|
Below Secondary
|
3%
|
2%
|
2%
|
2%
|
2%
|
|
Secondary
|
25%
|
24%
|
23%
|
23%
|
22%
|
|
Post-Secondary (Non-Tertiary)
|
10%
|
10%
|
10%
|
10%
|
10%
|
|
Diploma
|
27%
|
27%
|
27%
|
27%
|
27%
|
|
Degree
|
36%
|
37%
|
38%
|
39%
|
40%
|
*Figures as at 1 Jan of the respective years and may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Based on a survey conducted by CEA in end 2020, 59% of RESs indicated that they are working full-time as a RES, while the other 41% indicated that they are working part-time.