Licensed Real Estate Agents Decrease for 20 Consecutive Months: "Closures and Suspensions Due to Property Listing Freeze"

All 17 Cities and Provinces Closed or Suspended Operations＞New Openings
"Decisions to Close Due to Blocked Transactions of Farmland and Commercial Properties"

The number of licensed real estate agents operating nationwide has continued to decline for 20 consecutive months. Amid the real estate market downturn, concerns are spreading that the sales and lease markets will remain frozen next year, leading to an increase in agents deciding to close or suspend their businesses.

According to the Korea Association of Realtors on the 26th, as of the end of last month, the number of licensed real estate agents operating nationwide was 112,678, marking a decline for 20 months straight since it was recorded at 117,923 in February last year. The number of operating agents, which first surpassed 110,000 in September 2020 and exceeded 118,000 by the end of 2022, is currently at its lowest point in 44 months.

Although the number of newly opened real estate offices last month increased by about 100 compared to the previous month, the increase in closures and suspensions was even greater. In all 17 metropolitan cities and provinces, closures and suspensions outnumbered new openings. From 2015, when the association began its survey, through 2022, the annual number of new openings always exceeded closures and suspensions, but the trend reversed for the first time last year. With two months remaining in the year-end tally, the association expects the number of closures and suspensions to surpass new openings again, mirroring last year’s pattern.

This phenomenon stems from a cautious stance on sales and a transaction cliff. According to the 'September Nationwide Real Estate Market Trend Report by Property Type' recently released by Real Estate Planet, the total number of real estate transactions nationwide was 71,217, a 21.9% decrease compared to August’s 91,139 transactions. In Seoul, apartment transactions increased from May to August this year, but industry insiders say this was only a temporary rise centered in the Gangnam area. According to the Seoul Real Estate Information Plaza, apartment transactions in Seoul rose from 5,290 in May to 9,195 in July, then sharply dropped to 3,111 in September.

Nationwide, unsold inventory is heavily concentrated in provincial areas, and even within Seoul, there is a significant temperature gap between Gangbuk and Gangnam. Government measures to tighten household loans, such as the implementation of the second phase of the Debt Service Ratio (DSR) stress test from September and restrictions on mortgage and jeonse loans for homeowners, are also contributing to the contraction in transactions.

An association official said, "Even the lease market should be doing well, but jeonse prices are only rising without available listings," adding, "One should not judge the entire market based on localized booms like apartment transactions in Gangnam." The official further explained, "Due to legal amendments, it has become difficult for outsiders to own farmland, and with the increase in self-employed business closures, transactions of commercial properties and stores have also died down," concluding, "Faced with a widespread freeze on listings, real estate agents are moving toward closing their businesses for the time being."