‘They don’t simply open doors and earn five figures’: How much do property agents really earn?

SINGAPORE – As a child, Mervyn Ong followed his property agent parents to house viewings and helped distribute flyers in letterboxes. This instilled in him a lifelong passion for the profession. It took him nine attempts over 15 years to pass the Real Estate Salesperson (RES) exam and become a registered property agent in 2023. Ong, now 38, described the exams as challenging, despite his determination. He even hired a tutor to prepare, stating, ‘I don’t feel ‘paiseh’ (embarrassed) about it.’ Ong loves his job, finding it meaningful to help people find their ideal homes while earning a good income. In his first year, he earned a gross commission of about $80,000. By his third year in 2025, his take-home income rose to just over $200,000. However, this income came with substantial costs: his agency took a 10 percent cut of his commissions, and he spent close to $20,000 on property portal advertising alone in 2025, along with expenses for videos and market reports. The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) plans to start collecting agents’ commission data monthly from 2027 to improve professional standards and transparency. Before that, The Straits Times obtained commission data from PropNex Realty and ERA Realty Network, two of Singapore’s largest property agencies accounting for 60 percent of agents. ERA reported that the median gross commission for active agents in 2025 was $29,000, with the top 10 percent earning $341,000 and the bottom 10 percent earning $12,000. Half of ERA’s active agents earned less than $60,000, while 20 percent earned between $100,000 and $200,000, and 14 percent earned $200,000 or more. PropNex’s active agents earned an average of about $86,500 annually. Industry observers note that commission figures do not reflect the actual earnings after accounting for expenses like advertising, marketing, and entertainment costs. Agents also face unpredictable income flows, with some going months without commissions. ERA Singapore’s key executive officer, Eugene Lim, explained that unlike salaried employees, property agents have no basic salary or CPF contributions. The Singapore property market’s cyclical nature—affected by seasonal lulls, government cooling measures, and global economic uncertainties—can cause transaction volumes to fluctuate. The wait for payments can also be long, with commissions sometimes delayed up to 12 to 24 months after deal completion. For Ong, rental deals helped ease cash flow in his first year. By 2025, his expenses had risen significantly, including $20,000 on property portal advertising and $700 annually for market reports. He also spent between $500 and $1,200 on marketing videos. Semantha Soon, another ERA agent, joined the industry in January 2025 after completing her bond with PSA Corporation Limited. She earned $104,000 in gross commission in her first year, with commissions for about half the deals pending payment. Soon focuses on new property launches, with her largest commission of $30,000 for a two-bedroom condominium. She spends around $30,000 annually on marketing and entertainment costs, which are not directly tied to individual clients. ERA’s Lim clarified that agents do not simply open doors for viewings; they invest heavily in advertising, professional photography, and home staging, with no guarantee of completing transactions. Soon echoed this, stating, ‘A lot of time and effort goes in before knowing whether there will even be a commission at the end of it.’