Nearly 89% of real estate brokers do not have a practice certificate or it has expired.

Hanoi real estate market (Photo: VietNam+)

According to a survey by the Vietnam Real Estate Market Research and Evaluation Institute (VARS IRE), up to 89% of the current real estate brokerage force does not have a practice certificate or the certificate has expired; of which, 51.8% do not have a certificate and have never been trained, 24.1% have been trained but do not have a certificate and 12.8% have a certificate but it has expired. Only 11.3% currently own a valid practice certificate.

This is the information recorded at the seminar "Real estate brokerage practice certificate: Where are the problems, how to solve them?" organized by the Vietnam Association of Real Estate Brokers (VARS) under the direction of the Vietnam Real Estate Market Research and Evaluation Institute (VARS IRE) in collaboration with VARs Connect on the afternoon of April 21 in Hanoi.

The event gathered nearly 100 delegates representing state management agencies, leading experts, training organizations, and real estate brokerage businesses to discuss and find “bottlenecks” in the organization of exams and issuance of practice certificates. According to experts, this is one of the “bottlenecks” slowing down the process of market standardization.

Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh - Chairman of VARS emphasized that this is an important transition period for the real estate brokerage industry. The Real Estate Business Law 2023 has come into effect since August 1, 2024 with great expectations in standardizing the professional team. However, currently, the brokerage force is stuck in an "institutional bottleneck" because the regulations are in place but the operating system has not been cleared.

“Localities have not yet organized qualifying exams, so students do not know where to study properly, while businesses cannot recruit enough qualified personnel to ensure operations according to the law,” Mr. Dinh stated.

According to a survey by VARS IRE with nearly 30,000 brokers, to date, more than 6,000 students have completed the training program according to Circular No. 04/2024/TT-BXD of the Ministry of Construction guiding the training framework program, fostering knowledge of real estate brokerage practice, and operating real estate trading floors, but have not been able to take the qualifying exam due to difficulties in guiding the organization of the exam in provinces and cities.

Notably, up to 416 brokerage firms reported a shortage of qualified personnel, leading to many brokerage firms being unable to recruit enough legal personnel, directly affecting trading activities and the market recovery process. This has created a “hidden storm” in the brokerage industry. Practitioners are stuck between the expectation of compliance with the law and the reality of no clear path.

This reality reflects the worrying reality of the legality of the profession and also raises an urgent need to standardize the team, enhance training, and make the process of organizing certification exams transparent.

In addition, VARS IRE reported that 93% of respondents expressed their desire to take the exam, demonstrating a high level of interest in complying with legal regulations and the need to standardize professional knowledge.

This is also a positive signal, posing an urgent need to organize the exam in a systematic and flexible manner, and at the same time consider the possibility of organizing it online to meet the digitalization trend and the widespread needs of the current brokerage force.

In this context, VARS emphasizes that inspection, examination and handling of violations are very necessary, but at the same time, it is necessary to create favorable conditions for real estate brokers to have the opportunity to practice according to regulations. Before inspection, create a path, create practical, specific and feasible solutions to remove the obstacles for tens of thousands of brokers who are stuck in a legal blind spot.

At the workshop, many delegates said that the "bottleneck" mainly comes from the delay in issuing implementation guidelines at the local level. Although the Law clearly stipulates the responsibility of the Provincial/Municipal People's Committee, most localities have yet to take specific implementation actions.

Dr. Tran Xuan Luong - Deputy Director of VARS IRE said that there is a paradox in the market. Brokers have not been granted certificates, businesses do not have qualified human resources but cannot organize exams. If not resolved soon, the "legal deadlock" will continue.

According to Mr. Luong, up to 88% of students said they did not know which agency was responsible for organizing the exam locally, which shows the confusion in coordination between the parties. Meanwhile, the real estate brokerage force is an important "link" in the chain of transactions and product distribution to the market. If there is a lack of coordination to quickly implement the exam, the entire market supply and demand system will be affected.

The delay in the assessment process is not only a technical problem but also a “bottleneck” in the market’s operation chain, leading to the risk of freezing human resources and stalling recovery. To remove this bottleneck, an effective coordination mechanism with clearly defined responsibilities, along with consensus and determination to act from both central and local levels is needed.

“The problem does not lie in organizational capacity, but in the lack of synchronization in direction and implementation. If localities continue to wait for each other or worry about responsibility, the assessment will remain on paper,” Mr. Luong emphasized.

Experts, businesses, and brokerage forces all hope and propose that the Ministry of Construction soon issue specific guidance documents so that the People's Committees of provinces and cities have a basis to implement the exam in accordance with legal regulations. At the same time, it is necessary to allow qualified training units to coordinate in organizing the exam; build an online or inter-provincial exam system, to reduce pressure on each locality and ensure publicity and transparency in the entire system...

Within the framework of the workshop, VARS IRE officially announced the training program framework, fostering knowledge of real estate brokerage practice, operating real estate trading floors according to Circular 04, along with an open letter and a request for the People's Committees of the provinces to coordinate in opening the qualifying exam./.

According to VNA

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/gan-89-moi-gioi-bat-dong-san-chua-co-chung-chi-hanh-nghe-hoac-da-het-hieu-luc-246402.htm