CEA Currency Requirement for real estate salespersons

The Currency Requirement is a new Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) requirement for Singapore registered real estate salespersons (RESs). It takes effect on 1 January 2027 and is intended to ensure that RESs keep current with relevant rules and regulations, property-transaction processes and market trends. To be eligible for registration renewal for the next three years, an RES must complete at least three property transactions within each three-year cycle, or pass a Refresher Examination (CEA, 26 August 2026).

First cycle and relationship to CPD

The first three-year cycle runs from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2029. CEA distinguishes the Currency Requirement from the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) framework. CPD concerns skills and competencies: under enhanced CPD requirements effective from 1 January 2026, RESs and Key Executive Officers must complete 16 training hours each year to maintain registration. The Currency Requirement instead tests continuing practical currency through transactions or the alternative examination (CEA, 26 August 2026).

CEA also says that estate-agency licence and RES-registration validity periods will be extended from one year to three years as part of a whole-of-government effort to foster a pro-enterprise environment. The longer registration period does not remove the Currency Requirement; the three transactions or Refresher Examination are the condition described for renewal at the end of the cycle (CEA, 26 August 2026).

Refresher Examination and exceptions

An RES who has not completed at least three transactions by the end of the cycle may sit the Refresher Examination as an alternative route. CEA says all eligible candidates will be guaranteed a seat, and that further information about the examination will be announced by the first half of 2029. CEA may grant waivers case by case in extenuating circumstances, including serious medical conditions or involvement in complex transactions. The examination is therefore a planned alternative within the renewal framework, not an examination that RESs must already book or pass before the first cycle begins (CEA, 26 August 2026).

New RESs receive a limited first-year adjustment: CEA says they are not required to complete a transaction during their first year of registration. During the remaining two years of that three-year registration cycle, however, they must complete at least two property transactions or pass the Refresher Examination to be eligible for renewal. This is a registration rule for RESs, not a requirement imposed on home buyers or sellers (CEA, 26 August 2026).

The transaction must be accorded to the RES who conducted the estate-agency work; an RES cannot claim another RES's transaction. CEA says that, for most completed transactions, it recognises one RES on each side, while complex transactions may involve up to five RESs per side after case-by-case assessment. Submitting false or misleading transaction information is an offence under the Estate Agents Act 2010, so the Currency Requirement is tied to CEA's transaction records rather than self-declared activity (CEA, 26 August 2026).

Which salesperson receives credit

CEA states that a transaction may be accorded only to the RES who conducted the estate-agency work that closed it. An RES cannot claim another RES's transaction to satisfy the requirement. Submitting a transaction handled by someone else may constitute false or misleading information. Under the Estate Agents Act 2010, estate agencies and RESs must submit property-transaction records to CEA; CEA says false or misleading submissions can be prosecuted and are punishable by up to $10,000, up to 12 months' imprisonment, or both, with a possible further fine of up to $1,000 per day for a continuing offence after conviction (CEA, 26 August 2026).

For most transactions, CEA recognises one RES on each side: one representing the buyer or tenant and one representing the seller or landlord. Where multiple RESs work as a team for the same transacting party, the estate agent determines which salesperson is accorded the transaction based on the work done. For complex high-end commercial or industrial sales and en bloc transactions, CEA may recognise up to five RESs per side, assessing supporting documents case by case (CEA, 26 August 2026).

What the requirement does not establish

As of 26 August 2026, the CEA source explains the announced requirement and its first cycle, but it is not a property-purchase rule, a guarantee of transaction volume, or a claim that every RES will automatically renew registration. The number of transactions is a professional-registration condition; it does not measure Singapore's housing demand or make a salesperson the exclusive agent for a property. CEA's later implementing information should be checked for the full operational process (CEA, 26 August 2026).