Golf Course Membership Prices Fall in 44 Months
By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
The average cost of golf course memberships fell for the first time since December 2004, reflecting falling asset prices due to the economic slowdown. Expensive memberships of luxurious golf courses near Seoul, however, are continuing to rise ― and price polarization was evident among memberships as well.
According to the National Tax Service (NTS), which announced the official costs of 373 differentiated membership types at 180 golf courses around the country for August, prices of 183 had fallen compared with six months ago, while only 66 had become more expensive and the rest saw no change. The average price fell 5.11 million won, or 3.9 percent from February.
The official prices estimated by the tax agency are usually around 90 to 95 percent of the market price, and are the basis for calculating taxes, including capital gains tax, inheritance and gift taxes.
The most expensive golf membership in the country is for Namboo Country Club in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The tax agency set its official price at near 2 billion won, up 283 million won from February.
Membership for Gapyeong Benest Club, which was the most expensive in February, ranked second as its price remained stable at 1.7 billion won.
While expensive clubs, priced over 500 million won, saw their value grow by 2.3 percent from six months ago, those below 200 million won had prices plunge by over 5 percent. The cheapest golf membership in the NTS announcement, located in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, for example, was priced at 24 million won, down 20 percent from six months ago.
``Polarization is going on among golf course memberships, with fees at expensive ones near Seoul continuing to rise while those at cheaper ones in the provinces are falling,'' said a spokesperson at the NTS.
Golf course memberships have been popular investment items among rich people here during the last few years, with some enjoying very large investment returns.
Some people, however, say there is a bubble in golf course memberships. In Japan, the average price of golf course memberships fell by 90 percent during a collapse that lasted a decade.