The study by Ngee Ann Polytechnic showed that while most respondents were satisfied with the services rendered by property agents, about a third - or 348 out of 1,041 - said they had experienced bad service.
The two most common complaints were the failure to negotiate a good price for their property, as well as wrong advice given by agents.
More than seven in ten said accreditation is necessary.
Most felt there should be a minimum requirement of two years of relevant working experience before agents are accredited by an independent professional organisation.
Currently, with accreditation being on a voluntary basis, the majority of the agents are not certified. In fact, out of the 33,000 or so agents here, only a quarter or about 8,000 are accredited.
Mr Nicholas Mak, a lecturer in real estate at Ngee Ann Polytechnic said professionalising the industry is more important at the time of a property boom because it is during such times that fair weather agents enter the industry.
"They just come in when the market is good, get a few deals earn several thousand dollars in commission and then after that disappear when the market is not doing so well," said Mr Mak. "In the meantime they are not properly trained, they may not follow certain codes of conduct and it may actually result in certain malpractices which in a way, it's just a small minority of these black sheep which gives the industry a bad name."
The Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies Limited said the good news is that 12,000 people have registered or are set to take the Common Exam for Sales Person. This, it said, will go some way in standardising the "level of competency" among housing agents here.
- Source: TODAY, 28 January 2010
