Golf Popularity Slows Down... Ultra-High-Priced Memberships Still Strong

'Namchon·Nambu' and Other Ultra-High-End Memberships Surge 20-30% Since Early Year
Upward Trend Expected to Continue Through Second Half... Attention on 'New Investment Destinations'

A view of Nambu CC in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do. The market price of memberships at this golf course has continued its strong upward trend, rising more than 20% compared to the beginning of the year.

[Asia Economy Reporter Seohee Lee] As the rapidly expanding golf industry shows signs of slowing down, the golf membership trading market is also polarizing. While the overall membership prices have recently been declining due to decreased demand, the so-called ultra-high-priced memberships exceeding 800 million KRW continue to rise alone. Experts predict that this phenomenon could intensify if the golf market contracts further.

Ultra-high-priced memberships over 800 million KRW rose by 17.1 percentage points in the first half

According to Ace Membership, a specialized golf membership trading platform, the comprehensive golf membership price index was recorded at 1334.1 this month. After peaking at 1357.0 in July, it dropped to 1346.0 in August, marking two consecutive months of decline. This index is based on membership prices as of January 1, 2005 (1000) and reflects daily price fluctuations.

What draws attention is the price trend of ultra-high-priced memberships over 800 million KRW. Despite the overall price decline, these memberships continue to rise independently.

In particular, the upward trend of golf memberships priced over 1 billion KRW is even more pronounced. As of the 6th, Namchon Country Club’s price was 2.25 billion KRW, a more than 30% increase from 1.5 billion KRW at the beginning of the year. Similarly, Nambu Country Club’s price reached 2.55 billion KRW on the 6th, up 21% from 2 billion KRW at the start of the year.

From November, ‘Ban on Issuing Public Golf Course Memberships’... “Prices May Rise Further in the Second Half”

The decline in membership prices is attributed to the ‘reduction of COVID-19 benefits’ and an ‘unstable asset market.’ With overseas golf travel reopening, domestic golf population is beginning to decline, and the sharp rise in interest rates is dampening investment demand.

However, experts foresee the rise in ultra-high-priced memberships continuing. Starting in November, the unofficial trading of memberships for public golf courses will be completely banned, inevitably reducing the volume of tradable memberships. According to the industry, about 60 to 70 golf courses, accounting for 22% of the total, are expected to convert from membership-based to public courses following government policy.

Hyungyun Lee, an analyst at Ace Golf, said, “Recently, investment demand for memberships has shown a tendency to be cautious. Prices will likely remain in a box range for a while but are expected to shift to an upward trend by the end of the year due to government policies and other factors.”

Attracting Attention as a ‘New Investment Destination’ Replacing Stocks and Real Estate

Ultra-high-priced memberships are also gaining attention as a new investment destination replacing real estate, stocks, and cryptocurrencies. This is because traditional investment channels like the stock market and real estate have been sluggish, prompting more investors to seek scarce investment opportunities.

In fact, a survey by KB Financial Group’s Management Research Institute last year revealed that 67.3% of high-net-worth individuals with financial assets exceeding 3 billion KRW invested in golf course memberships. This signals that golf memberships have become an essential portfolio component for wealthy investors.

Accordingly, some companies are recognizing golf memberships as a new investment area and are moving to integrate advanced IT technologies such as blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). A representative example is Kakao VX, which announced plans to issue screen golf NFT memberships, the first in the industry. Although still experimental, the industry expects similar initiatives to increase gradually.

The analyst added, “Recently, some mid-to-low-priced memberships have also shown noticeable rebounds. I believe the investment value of golf memberships will continue to rise.”