Selling properties on behalf of customers can yield rich returns for the middleman. For 2022, Singapore’s largest real estate agency PropNex : OYY 0% posted revenue of S$1.03 billion and net profit of S$62.4 million, up 7.5 per cent and 3.9 per cent year on year respectively. 

Singapore Exchange-listed PropNex’s return on equity (ROE) of nearly 50 per cent far exceeds the mid-single digit ROE of many developers. At end-2022, the group had S$139 million of cash and cash equivalents, as well as no borrowings.