In the past three years, the real estate agency industry has faced numerous challenges. Taking Centaline Property Agency Limited (Centaline) as an example, since the property market downturn in 2021, the company has undergone a scale adjustment. However, with the gradual recovery of the property market in 2024, the company increased recruitment efforts in anticipation of a new peak in 2025. This year, Centaline continued to excel, winning "Employer of Choice," "Asia Pacific Outstanding Employer," "Leadership Development," and "ESG Human Resources Strategy" awards. These four prestigious honors are a testament to Centaline in recognition of its relentless efforts and remarkable achievements over the past year.

In an interview, Mr. Louis Chan, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (Residential) - Asia Pacific of Centaline Property Agency Limited, stated that the real estate agency industry has faced numerous challenges in recent years, especially with property prices gradually declining since the peak in 2021. The Centa-City Leading Index dropped by nearly 30%, prompting the company to rationalize its branches and workforce. However, with the government's full relaxation measures and interest rate cuts last year, the property market atmosphere has significantly improved. The company now plans a 10% increase in its workforce this year.

Louis highlighted that the number of first-hand property transactions in 2024 reached approximately 17,000, nearly a 60% increase compared to 2023. This surge in transaction volume contributed to growth of business, earning 2024 the title "Year of Recovery." Looking forward to 2025, Louis remains optimistic about the property market and anticipates more opportunities on the horizon.

Furthermore, Louis pointed out that with the evolution of times, the traditional street shop operation model will gradually decline, while online sales will become the focus. Centaline will allocate more resources to digital sales, shifting from the previous strategy of expanding branch networks to prioritizing investment in digital sales.

Investing Resources to Welcome Online Customers

Louis acknowledged a growing trend of customers obtaining information and making comparisons online, thus reducing the need for branch visits. To adapt to this shift, Centaline has substantially invested in information technology and related human resources. For example, CentaMap - a popular search tool - integrated demographic data from the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong in the past two years.

"By combining statistics with demographic information, for example, we can find that Wan Chai District has the highest per capita income in Hong Kong. The integration of big data not only makes CentaMap data more comprehensive but also induces the company to strengthen the manpower to expand in this work, sharing valuable information with the public."

Practicing Paperless Operations and Promoting Transparent Information

In terms of environmental, social, and governance (ESG), Centaline has implemented many measures in recent years, embracing environmental protection and green culture. Louis stated that the company consistently supports practicing green culture and paperless operations recently, such as sending property brochures via WhatsApp or through website instead of printing them out in large quantities. Each detailed execution of processes relied on the joint efforts of all departments of the company.

He added, "Now customers can access historical transaction records of individual units over the past 29 years through Centaline's database. This aims to keep the public informed of the profitability and losses of their properties, adhering to Centalineˇ¦s culture of consistently sharing useful information with the public as always."

New Generation Employees Utilizing Information Technology

It is well known that Centaline is committed to building professional teams and investing substantially in training. Speaking of the characteristics of the new generation of talent, Louis mentioned that many young people joined the company last year. It is understood that when making job selections, young people not only assess the company's prospects but also value training opportunities. "Centaline Training Institute" is a key training component of the company.
"This generation of young people, especially secondary school graduates, are mostly proficient in using mobile phones and the internet, and this is a very important foundation. The future development trend will increasingly lean towards digital sales, so our training content includes the use of social media and video production." In the future, Centaline will focus more on information technology configuration and training.

Louis reckoned that young people are a highly advantageous group for joining the real estate agency industry, he said that young people are a highly competitive group as they are skilled at using information technology and can quickly grasp the latest financial information, political, and economic changes, giving them unique competency for absorbing information and maneuvering the internet. Therefore, the company welcomes young talents who are interested in embarking on a career in this industry.

Frequent Learning Exchanges between Mainland China and Hong Kong

As an "Asia Pacific Outstanding Employer," Louis revealed that the company has also made significant efforts in the Greater Bay Area in recent years, including creating the "Centaline Greater Bay Area Index" to bring Hong Kong citizens' attention to the property price trends in the area. In addition, various talent and elite programs introduced by the government in the past two years have especially attracted many mainland Chinese students to study in Hong Kong, who also become a source of tenants.

"The company arranges for colleagues from the Greater Bay Area to come to Hong Kong for exchanges because digital sales technology is relatively mature in mainland China. For example, some famous internet celebrities have achieved remarkable success by using social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu for introduction. Our exchanges between mainland China and Hong Kong are becoming more frequent. This yearˇ¦s emphasis is on the Greater Bay Area, where we have branches in several cities."

As more talents come to Hong Kong for work or residence in the future, there will be an increase of mainland Chinese choosing to own properties in Hong Kong. Therefore, the Greater Bay Area will become the key business development focus of Centaline in 2025. Louis added, "Many young people from the Greater Bay Area are eager to join us. We have Centaline China branches in the Greater Bay Area cities where our mentors will directly select mainland colleagues to participate in training to help them understand the differences between mainland and Hong Kong clients."

Turning the Page for the Better with Confidence in the Future
In addition, Centaline established a task force dedicated to guiding the preferences of clients from both mainland China and Hong Kong. The scale of this team has gradually expanded to more than ten people now. They are responsible for teaching Hong Kong colleagues how to use Xiaohongshu and become Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs). "Mainland colleagues also participate in our monthly meetings to share information about popular properties, such as the Kai Tak area, which is popular among mainland clients. Kai Tak is a new key developing community composed of more than 10,000 new units, ranging from luxury to mid-priced properties. Such business exchanges are conducted almost on a daily or weekly basis."

In view of the real estate agency industry going forward, Louis firmly believes that there will be a "turning of the page for the better." He said that reviewing the past few years, the pandemic affected transaction volumes, and the company's development was closely related to Hong Kong's economy, resulting in scale adjustments. Entering 2024, market sentiment began to turn optimistic, and the property market gradually recovered. He encouraged colleagues to remain patient and believe that the pace of recovery in 2025 will accelerate, and the industry should have confidence in the promising real estate agency industry.
He concluded, "With the increase in transaction volumes, coupled with the large population base in the Greater Bay Area, the property transaction volume in the region will continue to rise. The integration of Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area will bring a bright future for our real estate agency industry."