During the 1970s, the Group focused mainly on the secondary sales and leasing of residential units still under construction. As it was not unusual for those who bought directly from developers to sell their units before completion, the Group was able to build a business finding purchasers in the secondary market.

In 1976, the Group set up a branch in Shaukeiwan to take advantage of the launching of Taikoo Shing.

In 1978, to capitalise on the increasing level of residential property activities in the Central and Central Mid-levels districts, the Group secured office premises in United Chinese Bank Building in Central to establish its second branch, which has since served as the Group's administrative headquarters.

By 1980, the founder had mapped out a strategy to diversify the Group's business. Having set up headquarters in Central in 1978, the Group branched into broking of residential properties of various ages in addition to the newly completed units or those under construction. In 1981, the scope of business was expanded geographically to cover more districts, although Taikoo Shing and its vicinity remained a focal point with a branch in Shaukeiwan. Further diversification was carried out in 1982 when the Group launched broking services for retail and industrial properties.

In 1984, in order to enhance the efficiency of its operations and to further consolidate its position in the real estate agent market, the Group commissioned a management consultant company to review its operations and corporate structure. Based on the report prepared by the management consultant firm, the Group expanded its human resources and administration departments and began to offer formal training on various aspects of the real estate broking business to its sale personnel (which comprise sales agents and sales employees). At the same time, policies and procedures were established to give structural support to the sales team.

In 1987, in a bid to further improve clients' services, the Group established a training program for staff. To enhance the quality and efficiency of service, the Group commenced the development of a computerised property listings system in 1987 to be used eventually in all branches. The system consists of a database that allows sales personnel ready access to multiple listings of transacted and asking prices for a given district. The Directors believe that the Group is one of the first in the industry to begin using a computerised property listings system, which enables the Group to monitor more efficiently the trends in the market.

In 1988, the Group launched three other lines of business: real estate project marketing, marketing of overseas properties and broking services for office premises. Collaborating closely with the developers from the construction state, the Group's project marketing team successfully marketed Midland Court, a residential cum retail building in the Mid-Levels. In September, the Group also test-marketed Canadian properties in Hong Kong with a condominium building in Vancouver, Canada. The Group thus became a full-service agency marketing properties in all sectors - from home to office premises to retail units to factory space.

In June 1992, the Group set up a China division based in Hong Kong to market PRC properties.

On June 8, 1995, the Company (stock code: 1200) became the first and the largest real estate agency to go public in Hong Kong. In 1996, we set up the "Deluxe Home" division to serve the most discriminating customers in their search of their dream homes. Over the years, the division succeeded in building brand recognition as a leader in the broking of luxury homes.

After the burst of the property market bubble in 1997, the Management took prompt action to scale down the size of the group. The number of branches was cut from 297 to 127 in less than a year, laying down the strong foundation for the Group to emerge as a market leader.

During the pro-long property downturn, the Group continued to strengthen its market position and even expanded its foothold in the new home market. The Residential division set a number of sales records with the marketing of some residential projects, winning accolades in the industry. It also won the exclusive marketing rights for a number of new residential developments throughout Hong Kong.

In April 2000, the Company took a proactive step to speed up the consolidation of the industry and acquired Hong Kong Property Services (Agency) Ltd. to expand further its market share. In the same year, mReferral, a joint venture among Midland Holdings Ltd, Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. and American Express Bank Limited (– see Group Structure) was established to provide free mortgage referral services to property buyers.

In mid 2003, Midland was among one of the first property companies which anticipated a sharp turnaround in property market. The Group promptly announced the aggressive expansion plan of adding hundred outlets, a move which helped built the strong foundation for our solid financial performance in the subsequent few years. In the meantime, the Group's flagship promotion campaign - "The Legend of Flying White Horse" started off with a white horse "pacing the meadows" to describe how the market emerged from the doldrums of 2003.

Since the market recovered in mid-2003, the Group has also launched some new business initiatives which are, of course, property-related. Following the Hong Kong SAR Government’s launch of the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme in October 2003, the Group was among the first to set up an immigration consultancy, Midland Immigration Consultancy, for prospective investors. It is run by several legal professionals and provides a comprehensive range of investment immigration consultancy services. In 2004, The Group offered professional advice to a line-up of investors and was the first to submit immigration proposals on behalf of applicants. Having proven its success in Hong Kong, we opened a branch in Macau in October 2004, obviously with a view towards growing the business. In the same year, Midland Financial, an affiliate was formed. As the business of the Company had diversified, the name of the Company has been changed from "Midland Realty (Holdings) Limited 美聯物業(集團)有限公司" to "Midland Holdings Limited" and the Chinese name "美聯集團有限公司" has been adopted for identification purpose with effect from 15 April, 2005.

In 2007, Midland IC&I was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the first listed company specializing in industrial and commercial properties agency services. In August 2008, the listing was transferred from The Growth Enterprise Market Board to the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (Stock Code : 459). Being the first and only listed company in Hong Kong specializing in industrial and commercial (offices and shops) properties brokerage, the Group has set up a new professional team comprising surveyors and experienced salesmen to penetrate the leasing market.

In 2008, the Group took decisive measures to rationalize business operations including the cutting back the number of branches and staff, setting a stage for the record-breaking financial performance in 2009.

Though real estate agency business in Hong Kong has existed for a long time alongside the property market itself, it did not really grow into a substantial business sector until estate type developments gained popularity in Hong Kong, this is because most property transactions before the 1970's were negotiated directly between the buyers and sellers. Occasionally, certain 'middlemen' who generally operated without offices and provided little service other than pure introduction of buyers and sellers brought the buyers and sellers together.

Following the increase in popularity of estate type developments in the 1970's for residential estates such as Taikoo Shing and Mei Foo Sun Chuen, there followed a concentration of population in housing estates. This not only encouraged the concentration of property turnover in a given locality, it also created a demand for the provision of standard estate agency service. Accordingly, estate agency broking business became more formalised and certain brokers began to incorporate their business and operate out of fixed office locations.

The majority of these agencies provided broking services for residential properties only with a small number of operators and very few of these agencies had branch networks. The reason for this was that an estate agency outlet normally served only its neighbourhood. As no formal qualifications were required for the real estate broking business, there were few entry barriers for any individual or small group of individuals to set up an establishment serving a given locality. The business in those days was of an informal nature and was traditionally family run.

In the 1980's, and 1990's with an increase in property activities over the years and greater number of residential estates being built across the territory, there was an increase in the number of agencies being setup. In particular, there emerged a small group of estate agents who were able to set up a small branch network in Hong Kong. A number of agencies also diversified their activities to provide broking services to commercial and industrial properties.

In 1997, the regulatory authority, Estate Agents Authority, was established.

From 1997 to 2003, the property market entered into a severe downturn and the business environment was tough for property agents. During that period, the industry consolidated as some agency groups gone out of business.

Since mid-2003, the industry has boomed again with the recovery of the property market.