Singapore’s property serial number solution to ease process for home seekers

People will no longer have to sift through dummy and duplicate property listings on online property portals 

In efforts to streamline the property search experience for Singaporean home seekers, assigning unique serial numbers to each property has been proposed to prevent forged and duplicate online listings, reported The Straits Times.  

When browsing on property listing portals, home seekers will no longer have to scrutinise through dummy and duplicate property listings.  

Proposed by Singapore’s five largest real estate agencies, property listing portals, and key industry stakeholders, a unique serial number may be assigned to each property before it can be published on online portals to prevent multiple listings. 

On November 5th, Minister of State for National Development Tan Kiat How announced the formation of an Alliance for Action (AfA) on Accurate Property Listings.  

The alliance aims to pin dummy listings, or advertisements on property websites that do not feature an actual property available for rent or sale.  

On the other hand, multiple advertisements of the same property by different agents, known as duplicate listings, can be confusing to homebuyers.  

“This is a long-standing problem that consumers have often faced when searching for properties – and property agents, too, when they conduct property searches for their clients,” said Tan. 

The AfA will be co-led by the Singapore Estate Agents Association (SEAA) and online portals like PropertyGuru. 

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Adam Wang, SEAA president, said eliminating such listings will create a “positive user experience” for property searchers.  

“Buyers and tenants will have the confidence that the properties marketed are by authorised property agents. This will reduce situations that cause buyers and tenants frustrations, such as when they encounter non-genuine listings,” he said.