AI Innovation and Compliance - Vital for the Real Estate Agency Industry

(Photo: SMS Sun Xueling social media pages)

July 2025 - 3 min read

A common sight today: Real estate salespersons (RESs) using apps and tools provided by their estate agents (EAs) to easily pull out useful information – such as such as property trends and financial calculations – on the go for their clients.

This was highlighted by Senior Minister of State (SMS) for National Development and Transport, Ms Sun Xueling, in her speech at the Singapore Estate Agents Conference 2025 on 18 June 2025.

With Artificial Intelligence (AI) being a topic of great interest across all economic sectors, it was no surprise that the conference theme was “Enhancing Real Estate Resilience: Compliance and AI Innovation”.

SMS Sun noted that innovation in AI to enhance resilience in the real estate agency industry is “especially pertinent in a digital era where AI and technology have become an integral part of our lives, transforming the way businesses operate and creating unprecedented opportunities

She added that at an organisational level, EAs are continuing to digitalise and streamline property transaction processes, with RESs also using Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to address customer enquiries and write marketing materials.

This translates into less time spent on routine tasks and “more time to build trusted relationships with clients.”

“We must always think about how best to use AI and technology because it is transforming the way businesses operate and creating unprecedented opportunities for us,” SMS Sun said on these technological developments.

Meeting The Rising Expectations of Consumers

The conference also saw key findings of CEA’s Public Perception Survey 2024 shared publicly for the first time, in SMS Sun’s speech.

She highlighted the encouraging finding that 92% of property consumers were satisfied with the services provided by their RESs.

“This is the highest satisfaction level since the survey was first conducted in 2012, and is a testament to the industry’s sustained efforts in uplifting professional standards and strengthening consumer trust.”

While consumer expectations remain high from previous surveys, consumers wished for RESs to improve in three key areas:

• Understanding the needs of their clients and offering relevant professional advice

• Negotiating better prices and terms for their clients

• Conducting the relevant checks to ensure that property transactions are carried out in line with prevailing laws and regulations

She expressed her confidence that the real estate agency industry would be able to meet the increased expectations of property consumers.

Senior Minister of State Sun Xueling with President of the Singapore Estate Agents Association, Mr Adam Wang (centre), and attendees at the Singapore Estate Agents Conference 2025. (Photo: SMS Sun Xueling social media pages)

New Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Measures

SMS Sun also spoke about the importance of compliance, with the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/ CFT) measures.

She emphasised that it requires a strong partnership between the Government and industry stakeholders including the industry associations, to help Singapore remain a trusted financial centre.

She added: “Property agencies and agents serve as crucial gatekeepers, alongside financial institutions and legal practitioners, in protecting our real estate sector from illicit activities.”

SMS Sun highlighted the significance of the new Anti-Money Laundering and Other Matters (Estate Agents and Developers) Bill, which was passed in Parliament in April this year.

The Bill strengthens the current penalty frameworks to ensure more effective deterrence; and further aligns Singapore’s regulatory regime more closely with the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) international standards.

The Bill brings two key changes for the real estate agency industry:

• It will prescribe maximum financial penalties for EAs and RESs on a ‘per breach’ basis instead of a ‘per case’ basis, for AML/ CFT breaches, to reflect the seriousness of each individual breach – and ensure that penalties are commensurate with the breaches committed.

• It will require EAs and RESs to conduct due diligence measures on unrepresented counterparties.

“Though the vast majority of our real estate agents are law-abiding and professional, we have to put in place laws to weed out the bad actors who can tarnish our sector’s reputation. I hope that we can look at these laws in that spirit,” SMS Sun said of these key changes.

For more information about the latest AML/ CFT developments, visit CEA’s webpage on Preventing Money Laundering, Proliferation Financing and Financing of Terrorism.

Information accurate as at 29 July 2025