What comes first to your mind when you hear the term “5A”? Excellent results in a public examination? Top-graded beef you crave for? Or anything related to quality? Earlier, you may have seen some outdoor advertisements showing a cartoon estate agent on buses, bus shelters, trams and even online platforms. This cartoon is in fact our “spokesperson” for a “5A” estate agent.

locations are different from Hong Kong, consumers must be aware of the possible risks involved in purchasing properties outside Hong Kong (especially uncompleted ones) in order to protect themselves from loss. In this regard, the Estate Agents Authority (“EAA”) will organise a public seminar in Cantonese titled “Know the risk when purchasing properties situated outside Hong Kong” on 30 March, to introduce to consumers the important points-to-note when purchasing non-local properties. All are welcome to attend and please register at this website: https://eaa.ievent.hk

In my previous article, I mentioned a new Practice Circular No. 18-02(CR) issued by the Estate Agents Authority (“EAA”), which provides more comprehensive guidelines for our licensees when issuing property advertisements.

Recently there has been increasing public concern that some of the property advertisements issued by estate agents may contain false or misleading information. In this regard, estate agents must comply with the relevant laws and guidelines issued by the Estate Agents Authority (“EAA”) when they issue advertisements, and the EAA will conduct regular checks to ensure estate agents’ compliance. However, there is sometimes no straight forward answer as to whether a particular contained in a property advertisement is “true or false”.

To improve the estate agent behaviours at sales sites, show flats of first-hand residential properties and their vicinities, the Estate Agents Authority (“EAA”) has reached an agreement with 32 developers and issued a Charter on the sale of first-hand residential properties (“the Charter”) last month. Participating developers pledged to provide consumers with a desirable sales environment and we have since seen much improvement in the estate agents’ conduct at the first-sale sites.

As the first-hand residential property market in Hong Kong has reached new heights in recent years, it is more than ever in the public spotlight. Therefore, I would like to remind prospective purchasers of some important points-to-note when appointing estate agents to purchase first-hand residential properties.

As a major international financial centre in Asia, Hong Kong attaches great importance to combatting money laundering and terrorist financing to safeguard the integrity of our financial system. An effective anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime is hence in place and effort from everyone including estate agents, property purchasers and vendors is required for its implementation.

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Estate Agents Ordinance and the establishment of the Estate Agents Authority (“EAA”), the EAA organised its first micro movie competition for post-secondary students in 2017. The competition was smoothly run, with results announced and awards presented during the EAA’s 20th Anniversary cocktail reception held last month.

Recently, there have been news reports on property transactions involving mortgagee sales, mentioning that the supply of mortgagee properties has increased. However, are mortgagee properties a real bargain? What devil’s details are there in these transactions that may be easily overlooked?

As the property investment market has heated up, in addition to traditional residential properties, more people have shifted their focus to non-residential properties in recent years…