SG Morning Highlights | More Competition, Higher Costs, Slowing Sales Could Hurt Property Agents' Earnings

Advancers / Decliners is 125 to 57, with 122.79 million securities worth S$126.80 million changing hands.

AFTER a year of robust earnings as commissions rose while transaction volumes slipped in 2022, Singapore housing agents now face increasing competition in the industry.

For a start, sales volumes have slowed this year, observed Joel Kwok, a marketing director at ERA. It is now taking a longer time to clinch a deal – from less than a month in 2021 and 2022, to around four to six weeks in the current market, said Kwok.

Quarterly data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority showed that overall sales (excluding executive condos) dipped by 22.9 per cent year on year in Q1 2023. New sales volume was down 31.2 per cent year on year.

Singapore's tight labour market may be drawing workers away from full-time private-hire driving, especially as service sector wages improve.

Major platform companies Gojek and Grab have found that private-hire drivers are thinner on the ground now than before the Covid-19 pandemic.

"While the ride-hailing industry has shown strong signs of recovery, the active number of private-hire drivers has not returned to pre-pandemic levels," a Gojek spokesperson told The Business Times.

With more commuters using ride-hailing services again, "the number of private-hire drivers on the road has not kept pace with demand", she added.

During the financial year, the company acquired assets amounting to $6.8 million and disposed assets amounting to $98.3 million. This resulted in a gain on disposal of property, plant and equipment of $218.6 million.

On Dec 6, 2022, the company completed the divestment of Stamford Plaza Auckland and its business to Albert Street Hotel at a consideration of NZ$152 million and NZ$18 million respectively.

Hospitality RevPAR doubled y-o-y to $227 on the back of higher room rates supported by the ongoing recovery in the hospitality sector. On January 1 this year, Hilton Singapore Orchard reopened the 446-room Orchard Wing. With the full inventory of 1,080 rooms compared to only 634 rooms available for booking from February 24, 2022, Hilton Singapore Orchard's RevPAR grew by 2.4 times y-o-y to $233 for the quarter. Meanwhile, Crowne Plaza Changi Airport's RevPAR has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, increasing by 71.4% y-o-y, to $216.

The company said in a business update on Friday (May 26) that revenue for the three months ended Mar 31, 2023 rose 159.4 per cent on year to S$12.5 million.

Straco, which operates facilities such as the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium and the Singapore Flyer, said its China attractions registered positive revenue growth with higher visitor numbers.