EAQE The estate agency trade in Hong Kong question: development in the 1980s and early 1990s shaped the modern agency trade

Answer: D. Commission sharing for staff, and chains growing to hundreds of branches

Answer: Commission sharing for staff and the growth of large chains. Why not the others: - A ten-branch limit: No such limit existed; some firms had more than 200 branches. - Agencies became Government departments: They remained private businesses. - Consumer Council licensing: Licensing began only in 1999, under the EAA. Rule: The commission system giving staff a share was introduced in the early 1980s; by the early 1990s the largest firms had branches in almost every housing estate, the two largest with over 200 each, and one listed in 1995. Source: EAA, A Study Guide to Estate Agency Law and Practice, Part 1, paras 5 and 6; as at Oct 2026