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Milestones

1997 May Enactment of Estate Agents Ordinance (“EAO”)
Nov Establishment of the Estate Agents Authority (“EAA”)
The late Dr Hon Marvin CHEUNG Kin-tung, GBS, OBE, JP was appointed the founding Chairman of the EAA
1999 Jan First batch of licences was granted to persons exempted from certain licensing requirements
Issuance of Code of Ethics
Mar Held the first qualifying examinations for estate agents and salespersons
Nov Estate Agents Practice (General Duties and Hong Kong Residential Properties) Regulation came into effect
2000 Jan  Reduction of licence fees by 20%
2001 Dec End of the three-year transition period of the licnesing system – an important landmark in the trade's progress towards professionalism as all new entrants must fulfill all licensing requirements without exemption from then
2002 Jan Estate Agents (Licensing) (Amendment) Regulation 2001 came into effect. Licence fees were reduced by 30% and qualified licensees were allowed to renew their licences within 24 months from the lapse of their last held licences
2003 Nov Dr Steven POON Kwok-lim, BBS, JP was appointed the Chairman of the EAA
2005 May Launch of the Continuing Professional Development ("CPD") Scheme 
2006 Mar Introduction of Certificate of Attainment and Attainment symbol to encourage estate agents’ participation in CPD scheme
2007 Mar Establishment of Section 28 Investigation Committee
Nov 10th Anniversary of the EAA
2008 Jun Introduction of CPD Mark for Estate Agencies
Aug Signing of agreement with the Guangzhou Real Estate Agent Service Administration Centre on Hong Kong practitioners obtaining a qualification to practise estate agency work in Guangzhou
Nov Ms Vivien CHAN, SBS, JP was appointed the Chairman of the EAA
2009 May Launch of a one-off, six-month licence fee concession scheme
2010 May Issuance of three new practice circulars regulating estate agents’ sales practices of first-hand residential properties
Nov Signing of agreement with the China Institute of Real Estate Appraisers and Agents ("CIREA") on mutual recognition of professional qualifications between Mainland and Hong Kong estate agents
2011 Jul Completion of the first training course and examination for the scheme of mutual recognition of professional qualifications for estate agents in the Mainland and Hong Kong
2012 Nov 15th Anniversary of the EAA
2013 Jan The practice circular requiring estate agents to provide "saleable area" for second-hand residential properties took effect
2014 Nov Prof William LEUNG Wing-cheung, GBS, JP was appointed the Chairman of the EAA
2015 Mar Awarded the first “Caring Organisation” logo from the Hong Kong Council of Social Service
Sept Launch of new consumer education initiative in the form of public seminars to enhance consumers' knowledge relating to property transactions
2016 May Launch of e-Services for online licence renewal application by individual licensees
Oct Launch of the EAA's Certificate Programme in Practice
Nov Awarded the first batch of “Silver” Premium Symbol to eligible licensees under the CPD scheme
2017 Jan Publication of disciplinary decisions together with the reasons for the decisions for achieving greater transparency
Feb Launch of a new consumer education website, "Be Smart in Appointing Estate Agents"
Jun Signing of agreement with the CIREA to renew the mutual recognition of professional qualifications scheme for estate agents in Hong Kong and the Mainland
Nov 20th Anniversary of the EAA
Dec Second training course and examination for the scheme of mutual recognition of professional qualifications for estate agents in the Mainland and Hong Kong completed
Issuance of new practice circular on the sale of uncompleted properties situated outside Hong Kong
2018 Jul Signing of the Charter on the Sales of First-hand Residential Properties with developers for maintaining good order at sale sites
Aug The EAA’s first purchased office in use
Nov The EAA and trade representatives attended the Mutual Evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force on the compliance and effectiveness of Hong Kong’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime
Dec Awarded the first batch of “Gold” Premium Symbol to eligible licensees under the CPD scheme
2019 Jun The first CSR activity organised by the EAA with the estate agency trade to clean up the Hong Kong shorelines
Jul Launch of computer-based examination for the Salespersons Qualifying Examination
Aug The EAA's “5A Agent” publicity campaign promoting the “5A” qualities of professional estate agents was awarded the “Education Award (Consumer Education)” by the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO), an international recognition
2020 Jan The EAA announced to offer a one-off professional development subsidy to eligible individual licensees
May Under the second round of Anti-epidemic Fund, the Government provided a one-off cash subsidy equivalent to two years’ licence fees to eligible individual licensees through the EAA
Jun  “Estate Agents Community Service Proposal Competition” successfully held with positive participation from the trade
Nov Ms Elaine LIU, JP was appointed the Chairman of the EAA
2021 Jun Two educational outreach teams set up to assist the estate agency trade in complying with AML and advertisement-related requirements
Oct The EAA’s second purchased office in the same building in use
Dec 188 estate agency shops awarded the “CPD Mark”, the highest number recorded in the last ten years
2022 Mar The EAA held an online ceremony for the “Estate Agents Energy Saving Award Scheme” and awarded 387 estate agency shops
Launched new educational campaign with a new slogan “To Buy or not to buy off-plan properties outside Hong Kong, assess the risks before you buy!”
Apr The EAA received the Grand Prize Award (2020-22) from Employees Retraining Board
Jul Mr Simon SIU Chak-yu, BBS, JP was appointed the Chairman of the EAA
Oct 25th Anniversary of the EAA
Nov Launched Premium CPD Mark for Estate Agencies
LICENCE LIST

Ascertain if the person concerned is currently licensed and the details of the licence

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LICENSEE CORNER

Useful quick links for Licensees

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CANDIDATE CORNER

Useful information before becoming an estate agent

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CONSUMER EDUCATION WEBSITE

Useful information and advice for consumers

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