In the Czech Republic, there is one real estate agent for every half of the people compared to the EU average

Prague - The number of residents per real estate agent in the Czech Republic is about half the average in the European Union. In the Czech Republic, there are 909 people per agent, while the EU average is 1,653. The lowest ratio is in Luxembourg (567), and the highest is in Greece (4,126). The Czech Republic has the fourth lowest number of residents per real estate agent in EU countries. This is according to the latest available data from the European statistical office Eurostat for the year 2017.

Following Luxembourg, Malta (582 residents per real estate agent) and Portugal (873) have the next lowest ratios. Seven countries have fewer than 1,000 residents per agent, including Belgium (918), France (960), and Spain (976) besides the Czech Republic.

Conversely, after Greece, Croatia has relatively the fewest real estate agents, with one agent for every 3,833 people. This is followed by Romania (3,668), Denmark (3,591), and Finland (3,109).

The absolute highest number of real estate agents in 2017 was in France (69,742), followed by Spain (47,789), Italy (33,012), Germany (31,601), and the United Kingdom (23,425). At that time, there were 11,664 in the Czech Republic.

According to current data from the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO), the number of real estate agents in the Czech Republic increased by 15 percent year-on-year to 10,664 at the end of last year.

On Tuesday, a law on real estate mediation will come into effect, which the Ministry of Regional Development (MRD) has been preparing for eight years. Its main goal is to improve the functioning of the real estate market and protect clients of real estate agencies.

The law will change the current free trade into a regulated trade with requirements for professional qualifications. The law provides five options for practicing the profession. The first is a university degree in legal, economic, construction, or other relevant fields. The second is another university, higher vocational or secondary education, which requires three years of practical experience in the field. Furthermore, there is international recognition or a bachelor's degree together with an MBA degree in real estate and one year of practice. Regardless of education, passing a professional exam will suffice. According to a 2018 MRD study, at that time the entry of real estate agents into the market and the performance of their profession in the European Union was not regulated, except for the Czech Republic and Spain.

According to MRD, existing real estate brokers have six months to apply for a change from a free to a regulated trade, which involves providing proof of education, experience, or passing an exam. Those entering the field newly must present these documents immediately when submitting their application.

The norm aims, among other things, to prevent agents from claiming a commission from both the seller and the buyer. The draft also regulates the particulars of the brokerage contract, which must be exclusively in writing and will not obligate the client to purchase or sell a property. According to the proposal, agents will have to inform prospective buyers about any defects in the property.

The law includes professional liability insurance for real estate brokers for a minimum amount of 1.75 million crowns. Agents working under a contract with a real estate company's trade name would need half the insurance. If an agent does not take out insurance, they risk a fine of up to one million crowns.

Number of residents per real estate agent in EU countries:

Country	Number of agents	Number of residents	Residents per agent
Luxembourg	1061	602,005	567
Malta	818	475,701	582
Portugal	11,792	10,291,027	873
Czech Republic	11,664	10,610,055	909
Belgium	12,419	11,398,589	918
France	69,742	66,918,941	960
Spain	47,789	46,658,447	976
Slovakia	5,301	5,443,120	1,027
Estonia	1,008	1,319,133	1,309
Lithuania	1,937	2,808,901	1,450
Netherlands	10,010	17,181,084	1,716
Latvia	1,061	1,964,379	1,823
Italy	33,012	60,483,973	1,832
Sweden	5,387	10,120,242	1,879
Austria	4,204	8,822,267	2,099
Cyprus	407	864,236	2,123
Hungary	4,370	9,778,371	2,238
Slovenia	794	2,066,880	2,603
Germany	31,601	82,792,351	2,620
Bulgaria	2,610	7,050,034	2,701
Ireland	1,753	4,830,392	2,756
Poland	13,574	37,976,687	2,798
United Kingdom	23,425	66,273,576	2,829
Finland	1,773	5,513,130	3,109
Denmark	1,610	5,781,190	3,591
Romania	5,324	19,530,631	3,668
Croatia	1,071	4,105,493	3,833
Greece	2,603	10,741,165	4,126
EU	310,000	512,372,000	1,653

Source: Eurostat

Note: These are the latest available data from 2017