Since the beginning of this year, the topic of "more and more homeowners are choosing to sell their homes themselves" has been on hot searches. On multiple social platforms, some property owners have expressed that they do not want to sell their houses directly through real estate agents. Is the real estate agent whose business once exploded, really not "fragrant" anymore?

信息和资本、土地一样，也是重要的生产要素。Intermediaries often rely on poor information to make money. 经济学认为，信息不对称是市场交易各方所拥有的信息不对等，交易一方对另一方的了解不充分。房产中介正是通过所掌握的市场供求信息，为买卖双方提供服务。

Photo by Zhang Guorong (Zhongjing Vision)

In the past few years, from online signing, paying taxes, applying for loans to formal transfer, and finally getting the house capital, there were many links and a long cycle. Any flaw in any link would affect normal transactions, so buyers often needed Professional intermediaries provide protection.

有人认为，从经济学上看，中间商赚差价，受益的还是消费者。Those who hold this view often overlook a prerequisite:There is a need to achieve full competition among intermediaries. 而现实情况未必如此，部分房产中介形成垄断优势，扰乱市场有序竞争的现象时有发生。

Not only that, information asymmetry in the real estate market can easily breed industry chaos:Intermediary companies monopolize housing and charge high fees, illegally collect customer information, and use false transaction data to interfere with normal order, which has brought many adverse effects on the market.

Information asymmetry also has many negative effects on buyers and sellers. 比如，交易成本居高不下。以北京为例，某头部房产中介收费标准经下调后仍为2%，由买卖双方共同承担，一套价格千万元的房子，仅中介费就达20万元。还比如，交易风险时有发生。房产交易涉及姓名、手机号码、银行卡号、身份证、不动产证等信息，一旦泄露就有可能造成损失。

如今，情况已大不相同。The supply-demand relationship in the housing transaction market has changed，房源竞争更为激烈，购房者选择空间增大。Simplify the purchase process in multiple places ，不少城市实现二手房交易“当天申请、当天过户”。在这种情况下，买卖双方的心态也发生了微妙的变化。

"How to transfer property without going through an intermediary""The house transfer registration procedures are simplified again! Do I still need an intermediary for house sales?" These online hot posts all reflect a reality:Real estate agents are really not as fragrant as they used to be.

除了市场行情的变化，还有一个重要原因：The cost of information circulation has become lower. 互联网引发的新一轮信息革命，使得流通环节大幅减少，生产直接对接消费成为现实。随着近年来社交媒介的兴盛，信息传播的交互性、时效性和精准性均大有提高，进一步打破了流通时空障碍，提升了流通效率，降低了沟通成本。

俗话说：“不懂生意经，买卖做不通。”所谓的生意经，无非就是市场行情、经营策略、价格机制、服务质量、客户心理等。 Whether it is a company or an individual, only by following the trend can we have great potential. 从粗放式发展到规范化运营，伴随着楼市的深度调整，房产中介将面临新一轮洗牌。如何在精准把握用户需求的基础上，与时俱进改进服务质量，提供真正具有性价比的专业化服务，是房产中介必须直面的课题。