After several property-related punch ups, real estate agents may soon face more stringent penalties for fighting with each other in public.
RTHK reported on Thursday that the Estate Agents Authority (EAA) is weighing whether to strip agents who get into violent brawls of their licenses for five years or more. Under the current policy, agents are banned for three years.
The news comes after about a dozen agents punched, kicked and threw each other to the ground “Mortal Kombat”-style at the IFC building in Central last weekend.
The agents were competing to sell flats at Henderson Land’s Cetus Square Mile in Tai Kok Tsui, according to the SCMP.
“The recent incidents in which estate agents fought at the sale sites of first-hand residential properties are absolutely unacceptable and has brought disrepute to the entire trade,” the EAA told Coconuts HK in a statement.
The brawl was one of two physical altercations between agents over the course of three days.
The fights are a sign of just how cutthroat Hong Kong’s property market — where a single parking space can sell for HK$6 million — has become.
As social media users have noted, the city is flooded with agents hoping to make commission fees from sales.
A typical scene in Hong Kong: Dozens of real estate agents trying to sell you an apartment as you walk by pic.twitter.com/i1I8r8iN6k
— Larry Au (@larryau) June 2, 2018
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPbfGxagsYH/
There are more property agents in Hong Kong than ever, according to the SCMP, with the number rising as more units go on the market.
