Hong Kong's Estate Agents Authority is set to introduce new guidelines aimed at promoting healthy competition among property agents, following 196 complaints registered last year.
Although only 24 complaints, a decrease of 20 percent from the previous year, related to primary-market sales (representing just 12 percent of the total), competitive skirmishes for customers during sales were common.
The majority of grievances, numbering 62 cases, concerned unauthorized advertisements, marking a 6 percent drop from the 2022 figures.
Additionally, there were 36 complaints about the mishandling of preliminary sale and purchase agreements and 22 complaints about the provision of inaccurate or misleading property information.
The announcement of these complaints coincides with comments from the authority's chairman, Simon Siu Chak-yu. He clarified that any rebates or discounts promised by property agents to their clients would be considered competitive pricing practices, as confirmed by his consultation with the Competition Commission.
Siu expressed his understanding of agents' concerns over commission issues but reminded them to comply with the Competition Ordinance's first conduct rule. Estate agents are encouraged to make independent decisions regarding commission charges and concessions to uphold free competition. Siu also pointed out that the authority is investigating an alleged collusion among certain estate agency groups to impose a minimum commission rate, a practice potentially amounting to price-fixing collusion.
The authority is closely monitoring the Competition Tribunal's rulings and is in the process of drafting a guideline to foster effective and healthy competition within the industry, expected to be released in the first half of the year.
In related property market news, Kerry Properties (0683) has set a new record in Kowloon by selling a house at Mont Verra for HK$636 million through a tender, with the property spanning 8,495 square feet and fetching a price of HK$74,868 per square foot.
