Minister of State for National Development Koh Poh Koon in Parliament announced that the real estate sector is the latest to have an Industry Transformation Map (ITM) developed for it, to help it transform and prepare for future challenges. He laid out the challenges that the sector is already facing in a digital age when this was announced on Tuesday (Mar 7).
For instance, he pointed out that a growing number of Singaporeans are choosing to complete their property transactions using DIY portals, without the need for property agents. “To survive and thrive, the industry must consider new ways of doing things,” said Dr Koh.
The real estate ITM is one of 23 of such roadmaps which outline Singapore’s jobs and growth strategy for the various sectors. Six ITMs have already been launched and 17 more, including the one for real estate, will be released this year.
Together, the 23 industries with ITMs make up 80 per cent of Singapore’s economy and such roadmaps were a key strategy recommended by the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) last month.
The key points mentioned includes:
1. Raising productivity
The Government will do its part to streamline its processes, such as HDB’s resale transaction procedure, to reduce the total transaction time for the public, including possibly doing away with one of the HDB’s resale appointments by leveraging ICT technology.
2. Helping workers gain new skills and
With more information and services being it will be more important for property agents to “hone their skills in servicing clients and building their credentials”, rather than just competing on marketing and closing transactions. This is where training opportunities should be put in place to help workers “upskill”.
3. Helping companies enter new areas of growth.
In addition, real estate companies can take advantage of new areas of growth and better respond to market disruptions. For example of local company LHN Group, which has moved from its original focus on managing properties for lease to managing facilities such as carparks and providing services such as CCTV surveillance and security guards. The company is also expanding into China to manage mixed-used developments.
