Don’t Be a Silent Victim of Bogus Listings
If you have a good memory, you might still remember that back in August 2018, Centaline founder Shih Wing-ching made headlines by saying that of the 160,000 property listings online, only 10,000 were real. In other words, majority of these listings were fake. Around the same time, Ricacorp Properties, a subsidiary of Centaline, launched a citywide campaign to tackle the problem, advocating for the investment and development of new technologies that could detect and filter fake real estate ads. The campaign made waves that even the Estate Agents Authority (EAA) released an enforcement notice, urging real estate agencies to strengthen the management of their property listings.
So where are we now? Are fraudulent listings a thing of the past? If you have browsed properties online, you'd notice that although things have indeed become better, bogus ads still very much exist. From what I understand, most self-respecting agencies, regardless of size, have made good efforts in regulating their listings and making sure most listings on their websites are authentic. Some firms have also connected their extranet with their intranet or ERP system to synchronise property information which has made it extra difficult for unethical agents to cheat the system.
However, apart from agency websites, there are also several real estate portals that list properties represented by different agencies. These websites are not run by agencies, and therefore are hard to regulate. That said, a few agencies have successfully monitored listings to ensure their authenticity; some are even incentivising clients and employees to report fake listings and agents that display them.
Of course, not all dishonest agents are deterred. By publishing phoney listings or property ads to attract buyers, not only are they misleading consumers but also creating unfair competition in the market and giving a bad name to the entire industry. Therefore, it is the EAA'S responsibility to take more effective actions to rid our industry of these bad apples.
As consumers, you have the absolute right to say no to these dishonest agents. You can do so by refusing to buy properties from them, or better, launching a complaint to the EAA so they receive the penalty they deserve—this would also help protect other consumers. If we want fake listings to be removed for good, the best way is to create an environment where bad agents are reported to authorities and thus are unable to make a living from this act.