1,200 real estate agencies in South Korea closed in March alone, the lowest number in 2 years and 8 months

It was revealed that 1,248 real estate agencies in South Korea closed or went out of business last month, bringing the total number of agencies nationwide to a record low in two years and eight months.
Many businesses are facing financial difficulties. The increase in business closures and the decline in new openings are also contributing factors. According to the Korea Certified Real Estate Agents Association on the 22nd, 1,129 businesses closed down in March this year, and 119
The number of closed stores increased by about 6.8% compared to the previous month (1,057 stores). The number of new openings was 1,024, an increase of about 15% from the previous month (890 stores), but the number of closed or closed stores (1
The number of newly opened real estate agencies was the lowest for March since the association began its survey of new business openings and closures in 2015.
By region, Seoul saw an increase in both new business openings and business closures and closures, but the number of business closures and closures exceeded the number of new business openings.
The number of new businesses opening in Uruguay increased from 188 in February to 245 in March, while the number of businesses that closed or went out of business increased from 277 to 302.
In Gyeonggi Province, 299 intermediaries closed or went out of business last month, the number of businesses closed or gone out of business in cities and provinces nationwide was 1.
Incheon saw the number of new businesses opening fall from 72 in February to 62 last month, while the number of businesses that were closed or went out of business increased from 72 in the same period to 83.
By quarter, 3,032 new businesses opened in the first quarter of this year (January to March), while 3,743 businesses were closed or went out of business.
The number of closures was down by 240 compared to the first quarter of the year (3,837 new openings, 3,977 closed or closed businesses), but the number of openings was down by 805, and there were more closed or closed businesses.
As a result, the number of real estate agencies nationwide was 114,608 as of last month, the highest number in two years and eight months since July 2021 (114,479).
Compared to the highest monthly figure of 118,952 in June 2022, this is a decrease of 4,473.
The decline in the number of real estate agents was largely due to the slowdown in the real estate market caused by high interest rates that began in the second half of 2022.
An official from the Korea Certified Real Estate Agents Association said, "Due to the sluggish domestic real estate market, people are increasingly reluctant to open real estate agencies."
The volume of housing transactions, which directly impacts the income of licensed real estate agents, is expected to increase in 2020, a period considered to be a real estate boom.
~ This is down by more than half compared to 2021. According to the Korea Real Estate Institute, the number of housing sales transactions nationwide in February this year was 43,491, down from 115,264 in February 2020 and 80,000 in February 2021.
This is a significant decrease from the previous 7,021 cases. In addition, the decline in trust in licensed real estate agents due to the series of large-scale rental fraud cases that occurred in the past few years is also thought to have had an impact.
In this situation, there are also increasing cases of real estate agencies being sold or transferred. The Korea Association of Certified Real Estate Brokers' real estate agency sales (transfer) bulletin board has had 2,844 listings in the last three months.
On the 22nd alone, residential preferences in Gaepo-dong and Daechi-dong in Gangnam-gu, Jamsil-dong in Songpa-gu, and Mok-dong in Yangcheon-gu were registered.
About 120 real estate agencies across the greater Tokyo area, including in high-income areas, were put up for sale.