The number of real estate agents that opened this year has fallen below 2,000 for the first time in 25 years. It appears that fewer agents are entering the saturated market of real estate agencies as the real estate market continues to stagnate.
According to the Korea Association of Realtors (KAR), the number of new agents opened this year was 871 in January and 925 in February. The cumulative total for January and February is 1,796, which is the lowest since 2000 for this period.
This is the first time the number of new openings has fallen below 2,000 this year.
In the past decade, the number of real estate agents opening in January and February has consistently ranged from 3,000 to 4,000. This includes 3,844 in 2016, 4,486 in 2017, 4,260 in 2018, 3,353 in 2019, 3,972 in 2020, 3,306 in 2021, and 3,473 in 2022. After decreasing to 2,496 in 2023, the number dropped to 2,008 last year.
The association analyzed that despite the surge of openings in the spring season when moving demands are high, the number of new agents this year is exceptionally low.
A spokesperson for the association noted, "Unless the government implements policies to revitalize the real estate market, the decline in new agents opening will inevitably continue," and added, "There are also those who want to close their businesses but are unable to recover their investment and feel stuck in maintaining their offices."
The total number of licensed real estate agents was recorded at 111,756 in February this year. It has been decreasing every month since February 2023 (117,923).
The number of candidates for the real estate agent examination last year (154,669) was also the lowest in eight years. This marks the first drop below 200,000 since 2017.