It turned out that the number of subscribers to subscription savings accounts fell by more than 300,000 last year. It has been declining for four consecutive years since 2022.
As of the end of last year, the total number of subscribers to subscription savings accounts (comprehensive subscription savings for dwellings, subscription savings deposits, subscription installment savings, subscription savings) tallied by the Korea Real Estate Board (REB) was 26,184,107, down 301,116 (-1.1%) from the end of the previous year (26,485,223).
The number of subscribers to subscription savings accounts peaked at 28,599,279 in June 2022 due to increased subscription demand driven by surging home prices and the government's creation of youth-preferential subscription accounts, then trended downward and decreased by more than 2.4 million through the end of last year. On an annual basis, the number fell by 477,486 in 2022, by 855,234 in 2023—nearly double—and by more than 553,000 in 2024.
After interest rate hikes in 2022, home prices fell sharply, and more people gave up subscriptions and shifted to the existing dwellings market due to the widening gap between commercial bank rates and subscription account rates, rising sale prices, and the expansion of the point system. Analysts say that in popular areas subject to the price cap on new sales, such as Gangnam, high point scores lowered the odds of winning, which also affected the decline in the number of account subscribers.
However, the pace of decline slowed for the second consecutive year. As of the end of last year, first-priority subscribers numbered 17,055,826, down 589,941 from the previous year (17,645,767), while second-priority subscribers increased by 288,825 from 8,839,456 to 9,128,281.
The outflow of first-priority subscribers who have held subscription accounts for at least two years continues, but as home prices rose again last year, demand for subscription accounts appears to have partly revived. Also, changes in the system—such as the income deduction cap for subscription accounts (300 million won per year) and expanded special supply benefits for newlyweds upon childbirth—seem to have increased new sign-ups.
Among subscription account types, the only one that accepts new subscribers—the comprehensive subscription savings for dwellings—had 25,172,173 subscribers at the end of 2024 and fell to 24,978,172 last year, a decrease of 194,001 (-0.8%). Among them, first-priority subscribers declined by 485,531 (-3.0%) from 16,436,220 in 2024 to 15,950,689 last year, while second-priority subscribers increased by 291,053 (3.3%) from 8,735,953 to 9,027,483.
Yoon Ji-hae, head of Research Lab at Real Estate R114, said, "With the slump in the presale market, arguments that subscription accounts are useless are growing, but the number of account subscribers will repeat increases and decreases depending on market conditions and changes in government policy," adding, "The policy to expand public apartments centered on the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) also seems likely to affect changes in the number of subscription account subscribers."