200 more licensed estate agents in a month, almost all on salesperson's licences

In one month, Hong Kong gained 200 licensed estate agents.

The licence statistics published by the Estate Agents Authority (EAA) show 38,363 individual licensees as at 30 September 2026, up 200 from 38,163 on 31 August. August had already edged up by 16 from July, and September rose again, so the figure has risen for two consecutive months. Before that, July had fallen by 5 from June.

In the EAA's past 13 months of data, September's figure is the highest in the period. September 2025 stood at 37,591, a net rise of 772 over the year. When On.cc reported the figure on 2 October 2026, its headline called it a "20-month high", saying it was the highest since January 2025. Because the EAA page lists only 13 months of data, that comparison can for now only be attributed to the report.

Almost all the new licensees hold salesperson's licences

Of the 200 additional licensees, 191 hold salesperson's licences.

EAA data show that at the end of September 2026 there were 20,818 salesperson's licences (known as S licences), up 191 from 20,627 at the end of August. Estate agent's licences (individual), known as E licences, numbered 17,545, only 9 more than 17,536 at the end of August. Together they come to exactly 38,363.

Company licences flat, business premises up by only 5

Changes at company level were much smaller. Estate agent's licences (company) stood at 3,986 at the end of September, 1 fewer than 3,987 at the end of August. Counting individual and company licences together, the total rose from 42,150 at the end of August to 42,349.

The EAA table lists 6,587 statements of particulars of business at the end of September, up 5 on the month. Both On.cc and HK01 describe this figure as the number of branches, but the EAA page itself does not use the word "branch". According to the footnote on the EAA page, under section 10 of the Estate Agents (Licensing) Regulation, an estate agent must apply for a statement of particulars of business before operating an estate agency business at a particular place of business under a particular business name.

The figure was 6,589 in June, 6,585 in July and 6,582 in August, rising again in September after two consecutive monthly falls.

Still about 4,000 short of the 2022 peak

According to On.cc and HK01, the number of licensed agents peaked in February 2022 at 42,408. The current figure is 4,045 lower, about 9.5% below it. The EAA statistics page mentioned above does not list this figure.

HK01 also calculated, using total September property transactions of 6,427 (up 659, or 11.4%, from August), that there are 5.9 agents for every deal. That figure is HK01's own calculation; dividing the same two numbers directly gives roughly 6 agents per transaction.

Analysis: what it means for recruiting teams

What follows is editorial analysis and introduces no new facts.

The data suggest the industry is taking on people again, but the growth is concentrated in salesperson's licences. E licences rose by only 9 in the month, company licences fell by 1 and statements of particulars of business rose by only 5. The EAA data do not show which premises the new people joined, so the scale of any expansion is hard to judge.

For recruiting teams, the competition that newcomers face may not ease just because headcount has recovered (this is an editorial judgement). The number is still about a tenth below the peak and, on HK01's calculation, there are roughly 6 agents per transaction. For a newcomer to win business, a licence is not enough on its own; it also depends on whether the team provides leads and mentoring.

Of the two monthly rises, one was only 16 people, which is not enough to establish a trend. Rather than speeding up hiring on one month's figures, it is better to see whether October's data continue the rise, and meanwhile to check whether your training and mentoring arrangements can take on the next group of entrants.