PETALING JAYA: About 14.76% or 2,520 out of 17,072 practising real estate agents have received two doses of vaccine against Covid-19, according to the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents’ (MIEA) recent survey conducted at 254 real estate firms in Malaysia.
Of the total number of practising agents, 41.68% or 7,117 have received the first dose of the vaccine, while 816 or 4.77% have tested positive for Covid-19.
“This shows that the number of agents infected with Covid-19 is below the national average which represents a small percentage compared to the number of agents having received the (vaccine) doses,” MIEA said in a statement this week.
The survey was conducted upon the Finance Ministry’s request for data and information to be used as a basis to determine the readiness of estate agents to resume operations following the implementation of the National Recovery Plan.
“Agents who have had one dose of the vaccine make up 41.68% compared to the national average’s 22.6%; those who have completed the vaccination comprises 14.76% compared to the 10% national average. The number of real estate agents who were infected with Covid-19 remains relatively low in spite of being in the services industry.
“This indicates that there is high compliance with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) by the practitioners and the risk on the exposure is limited compared to other businesses. From the analysis of the data, Covid cases among real estate agents are well managed even in the highest infected states like Selangor and Kuala Lumpur,” MIEA said.
It added that it will assist the government to get 20,000 real estate agents in the five states where its offices are located to be vaccinated and called for agents in states with low Covid cases to be allowed to operate based on the principle that the sector is safe to be reopened.
“It is important to understand that agents work individually and not as a group. In many cases a single agent meets either one or two purchasers or tenants to show the property. Sometimes the owner is there and often times the keys are with the agents. Adhering to the SOPs will reduce the risk of exposure (to coronavirus), as such the sector should be allowed to be reopened. Generally, landlords and tenants are mostly affected as tenancies expire and they need to move,” it said.
On July 1, MIEA president Chan Ai Cheng submitted a memorandum to the prime minister and the finance minister to appeal, among other things, for the extension of the Wage Subsidy Programme incentive to include real estate negotiators who are not “employees” but are engaged by real estate firms and registered with the Board of Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers Malaysia (Act 242) through the Board Information System.
