How much commission does a property agent charge in Singapore?
There is no fixed rate. The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) says commission is not fixed and that a client is free to negotiate the amount or the rate, which should be agreed and written into one of CEA's prescribed estate agency agreements before the agent starts work. An agent may collect commission from one party only, never from both sides of a deal, and it is paid to the agency, not the agent, once the transaction completes. What one agent on this site's ranked list says on its own pages is typically 1 to 2 per cent of a sale price; that is one agent's figure, not a rule.
Not fixed, and to be agreed before work starts
CEA's page on engaging a property agent says commissions are not fixed and that you are free to negotiate the amount or the rate. It advises discussing and documenting the agreed rate in one of its prescribed estate agency agreements before entering into a contract with the agent, and clarifying whether GST is included or excluded; only a GST-registered property agency can charge GST. CEA's pages on buying or selling and on renting repeat that there are no fixed commission rates and no prescribed guidelines on amounts, and that the amount and terms should be agreed before the agent starts work.
Exclusive or non-exclusive: when commission is owed
The prescribed agreement comes in two forms, and the choice decides when commission is owed. Under an exclusive agreement you appoint one agency for a validity period of up to three months and are liable to pay it commission even if the property is sold, bought or leased through another agency or on your own during that period, and for three months afterwards if the deal is with a party the agency introduced during the period. Under a non-exclusive agreement you may appoint more than one agency, with no validity period, and pay the one that completes the transaction. CEA says to ask the agent to go through the clauses, especially those on commission, before signing; extra terms may be added on a separate sheet but may not conflict with the prescribed ones.
One party only, and co-broking
CEA says an agent can only act for one party in a transaction and must collect commission only from that party; representing and collecting from both buyer and seller, or landlord and tenant, is an offence. An agent may help the other party with paperwork only with the client's consent and while stating that they neither act for nor collect any fee from that other party. Where two agents represent the two sides, which CEA calls co-broking, any sharing of commission between them is strictly an agreement between the agents; CEA notes that co-broking opens a sale to more buyers and gives a buyer more options. Agents may not introduce or recommend moneylenders.
Paying: the agency, never the agent, and never the deal money
When the transaction completes, CEA says, pay the agreed commission to the property agency and not to the agent. Everything else goes directly to the payee: CEA says it is an offence for an agent to handle transaction monies, and lists what an agent may never hold: the option fee, the option exercise fee, the downpayment, stamp duties, deposits and sale proceeds, legal fees, and for an HDB rental the deposit and the monthly rent, which a tenant pays the owner directly. Valuation fees and the commission itself are not transaction monies. CEA encourages payments by verifiable means such as bank transfer, PayNow or crossed cheque.
What agents actually charge
Because nothing is fixed, the only honest answer is what each agent states and what you negotiate. The ranked list of property agents on this site gives, in its first answer, the one published figure among its six agents, typically 1 to 2 per cent of a sale price on that agent's own pages, and says for each agent what work the agent takes on. Ask for the rate in writing in the prescribed agreement, ask whether GST applies, and ask who pays where two agents are involved; the answers belong in the agreement before any viewing.