Hundreds of real estate agents' jobs are on the line as the property market continues to remain sluggish.

Centaline Property Agency recently sent out 600 warning letters to its real estate agents who were unable to meet their first-half sales targets.

Louis Chan, Centaline's executive director for residential market, conceded that the market was so sluggish that many agents have been unable to make a sale for months.

The company has no plan to lay off its staff, but Chan said: "No transactions, then no commission - a frontline agent's basic salary is too low to make a living", and it may cause some to resign.

The basic salary of a junior real estate agent or property consultant is about HK$5,000 to HK$6,500 per month; they also need to pay pager fees and into the MPF. And the company doesn't provide any subsidies for their transportation and entertainment expenses.

By the end of June, the total number of individual licensees in Hong Kong was 22,865, according to the latest figures of the Estate Agents Authority.

But the number of actual transactions this month, according to market estimates, has been fewer than 10,000.

"We have slowed down hiring people," Chan said, adding that the company naturally loses about 150 real estate agents a month. Currently, Centaline employs about 3,000 agents, Chan said. It's difficult to hire new agents, as the market is poor. But at the same time, the company isn't setting up new teams, Chan said.

Ricacorp Properties, Centaline's sister company, said it isn't under pressure to lay off its staff.

Willy Liu, managing director of the agency, expects the property-market sentiment to remain sluggish next month.

"I see the property market recovering in September," Liu said. "We will wait and see for one more month."

However, the agency has temporarily closed two branches, and Liu explained that "there are natural losses without hiring new people, and thus not enough staff to operate the branch."

Richard Lee, an executive director at another local real estate agency, Hong Kong Property, said that July is a traditional low season for the property market, and he agreed that the market will rebound in September, after the Olympic Games.

(HK Edition 07/24/2008 page2)