31 October, KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) is supporting a call for the setting of a separate board for property and facility management from valuation following overwhelming regulations overseeing four professionals under real estate services.
The professionals, namely managers, valuers, appraisers and real estate agents, are currently regulated under Act 242 by the Board of Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers (BOVEAP), which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Finance.
MIEA President Eric Lim said as the Act was passed 32 years ago, it was time for the government to review and evaluate the effectiveness of managing of the profession and determine its future direction.
“We have called for the creation of a separate board for real estate agents to effectively regulate its practitioners.
“Real estate agents, who made up the majority of the professionals, are not adequately represented at the board level. This profession should be regulated by its practitioners, similar to other professional bodies in Malaysia and Singapore, he said in a statement today.
The call came from the Malaysian Institute of Professional Property Managers and Facility Managers who urged BOVEAP to reconsider its decision and listen to the professional bodies.
The MIEA is a professional body representing 5,000 real estate practitioners in the country.
Meanwhile, MIEA Secretary-General Chan Ai Cheng said Singapore has one registered real estate agent for every 200 people, while in Malaysia, one registered real estate agent for every 1,264 people.
“We are concerned that the industry is not growing, as every year, only about 100 newly-registered estate agents come into the market. This number cannot meet the needs of the industry. Sabah and Sarawak, for example, are very much underserved, said Chan.
She said of RM139 billion in property transactions recorded last year, 60 per cent were carried out by real estate practitioners.
– BERNAMA