President’s Report 2006/2007

As President of the Society, I am pleased to give an annual report on the major activities taken place in the past 12 months.

The Inauguration Ceremony for the 8^th Council took place on 21^st July 2006. 16 members were elected to serve for a term of two years. 

They are:

Our Society membership is made up of both company membership and individual membership.  As for company membership, we have Category I, II and III depending on the number of real estate agency staff.  The total number of real estate practitioners included in our membership is over 5,000.

Throughout the year, regular meetings were held between our council members on last Thursday of each month to make decision on operational matters of the Society.  In case of needs, ad hoc meetings were held to discuss on hot issues or make urgent decisions.

To facilitate better coordination and communication with Estate Agents Authority (EAA), council members had regular meetings with the CEO of EAA and her directors every two months.  We worked closely with EAA and conveyed members’ concerns and views on issues such as presale guidelines, supply of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) for sale, rebate of commission, money laundering, CEPA issue, reduction of licence fees, licence examination standard etc. 

The Society also had regular dialogues with other Real Estate Agent Associations in Hong Kong to share experience and to discuss on industry related issues. 

The Society held Press Conferences from time to time and commented on hot topics such as land auction, monopolization in real estate industry, and definition of saleable area.  The purpose of having Press Conferences is to increase the public awareness of our Society and to build up our professional image.  In the past year, our council members were being interviewed by different TV channels, radio stations, and magazines to express our views on the local real estate market.   Topics such as GST, presale guidelines as well as the practice of reserving flats by issuance of cheques that would not be cashed had been commented publicly by a number of our council members.

Our Society also maintained a close relationship with other real estate agents around the world. We attended the Second Forum and Exhibition of Pan-River Delta Real Estate Cooperation and Development in December 2006 in Guangzhou and the Inauguration Ceremony of Macau General Association of Real Estate in Macau.

Representatives of our cooperating partner, National Association of Realtors (NAR), and several overseas associations came from the United Statesin mid 2006.  We had meetings with them to assist and give advice on organizing the “American Real Estate and Services Exhibition (AREAS)” held at the end of September 2006.

Our Society believes that lifelong learning is important for our members.  We organized seminars relating to the real estate industry for our members on a regular basis and invited prominent guest speakers to share their views.  Through participating in our seminars, members can gain professional knowledge while fulfilling the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Scheme.

In the past 12 months, we organized the following seminars for our members:

• In June 2006, we invited Mr. Arthur Shek of HKET, Mr. Shih Wing Ching of Centaline Property Agency Limited, and Mr. Vincent Kwan of Hang Seng Bank as guest speakers on “2006年下半年度香港樓市及經濟展望”.

• In December 2006, Mr. Charles Chan gave our members a talk on “The Techniques in handling collective sale of aging properties”.

• In May 2007, Mr. Daniel Lam of KCRC, Mr. Peter Pun of Hong Kong Research Institute Limited, and Mr. Wong Leung Sing of the Centaline Group were our guest speakers on “鐵路沿線物業及新市鎮發展趨勢”.

• In June 2007, we invited Mr. Andrew Lok of Hong Kong Research, Mr. Gilbert Cheung of Hung Sing Security Limited, and Mr. Shih Wing Ching to talk on “2007年地產市道及樓市投資機會”.

Our Society supported the activities organized by EAA. We actively participated in seminar on “Preventive Measures in Money Laundering” and “Professional Ethics for Estate Agents”.

Fellowship activities such as visit to Cathay Pacific City at Chap Lap Kok and dinner gatherings were organized in June 2006.  More visits and functions will be organized in the future to enhance the relationship among members.

It has been my intention to develop and to lead our Society to become the most representative and professional society in the real estate industry in Hong Kong.  To achieve this, I will closely work with EAA and to reflect members’ opinion on issues relating to our industry.  I will also continue to organize educational seminars and fellowship functions for members’ participation in the year to come.

2006/2007週年大會報告

作為應屆香港地產代理專業協會會長，本人現向各會員匯報過去一年本會的動向及主要會務。

香港地產代理專業協會第八屆理事會，由會員投票選出十六位理事，並於二零零六年七月二十一日宣誓就職，任期為兩年。

理事會的成員包括：

本會的會籍，仍分為公司及個人兩種。公司會籍，是以該公司地產代理從業員的人數而劃分為三個類別。本會的會籍已覆蓋超過五千個地產代理從業員。

理事們會於每月的最後一個星期四進行常務會議，商討一般的會務。如有需要，亦會進行特別會議，以討論地產業的熱門話題及作出回應。

為加強與地產代理監管局的聯繫，本會理事與地產代理監管局的行政總裁及其董事們進行定期會議，每兩個月一次，一起討論有關各項業內運作的執行，並向地產代理監管局反映行內及會員的意見。所討論過的項目包括：樓花銷售指引、重新推出居者有其屋計劃對業界的影響、回扣佣金、洗黑錢、與?內更緊密經貿關係安排、減收地產代理牌照費用、及地產代理或營業員資格考試等事宜。

為促進與本地各團體之間的認識及交流，本會經常與其他本港的地產代理協會溝通，藉以互相交流經驗及商討業界重要事項。

本會與香港之傳媒關係良好，並曾於本年初舉行記者招待會，發表有關對公眾議題的意見，如：是否恢復定期拍賣官地、地產代理業是否出現壟斷及房屋面積計算。此外，本會的理事亦曾接受多間電視台、電台及報章的訪問，就商品及服務稅、預售樓花指引及行內以不兌現的支票預留單位的做法等地產市場相關事項，表達本會的意見。

本會亦與多個內地及海外地產代理協會有緊密之聯繫，目的在於推廣香港地產代理的形象。在2006年12月份，本人曾代表本會到廣州出席泛珠三角區域九省區建設廳和房地產業協會舉辦「第二屆泛珠三角區域房地產合作與發展論壇暨房地產業交流促進博覽會」。而於上月，多位理事亦到澳門出席澳門地產業總商會二十五週年會慶暨第十三屆正副會長理事監事就職典禮。

本會在2006年9月份，與美國地產代理商會(American Real Estate Agents Organizations) 聯合在本港舉辦地產展覽，本會與多方代表、合作贊助商以及美國領事館進行不同會議，並向他們提出意見。

本會深信，持續進修是業界從業員提升專業形象的重要因素之一。因此，本會會定期舉辦房地產相關的研討講座，以助會員成功取得持續進修(CPD)學分及掌握行內最新的知識。

在過去的十二個月，本會曾舉辦以下的研討講座：

·    2006年6月份：   邀請石鏡泉、施永青先生以及關永盛先生談論「2006年香港下半年樓市及經濟展望研討會」。

·    2006年12月份： 邀請陳超國先生講解「舊樓重建及併購的實務」。

·    2007年5月份：   邀請林濬先生、潘國城先生及黃良昇先生談論「鐵路沿線物業發展趨勢 」。

·    2007年6月份：   邀請施永青先生、陸東先生及張益祖先生為「2007年地產市道及樓市投資機會」的演講嘉賓。

本會亦積極參與地產代理監管局及有關團體舉辦的活動，當中包括「打擊清洗黑錢方面的建議」專題討論會和「誠信管理」專題講座。

本會亦積極舉辦各類型會員活動，包括在2006年6月份到鄰近香港國際機場的國泰城進行參觀。為增進會員之間的關係及溝通，本會在來年將舉辦更多會員活動。

本人致力發展及帶領香港地產代理專業協會成為香港地產代理業業界中最有代表性及專業的一個協會。為此，本人將繼續與產代理監管局作緊密的聯繫及表達會員對地產界的意見。本會亦會提供更多持續專業進修計劃的研討講座及各類型會員活動，並鼓勵更多會員參與。本人及各理事會繼續努力，令香港地產代理專業協會成為最具代表性及專業性之地產代理協會。