Real Estate Services Business Sentiment Rebounds in Q2, but Perceived Conditions Remain Weak

The business sentiment indicators for the real estate services industry rose across the board in the second quarter of this year, but business conditions, industry conditions, sales, and cash flow all remained below the benchmark of 100. That suggests the sector still sees the economy in a negative light.
According to the '2026 Business Survey for the Real Estate Services Industry in the Second Quarter' released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 14th, the Business Survey Index (BSI) for business conditions stood at 65.5, up 2.8 points from the previous quarter. The industry conditions BSI came in at 61.9, while the sales BSI and cash flow BSI rose 1.6 points and 1.7 points, respectively, to 66.2 and 67.0.
A BSI above 100 means more businesses view business or management conditions positively, while a reading below 100 means more see them negatively. Although all four key indicators improved in the second quarter, they still remained well below the benchmark.
The outlook for the third quarter also did not point to a clear recovery. The business conditions outlook rose slightly to 65.6, the industry conditions outlook to 62.0, and the sales outlook to 66.4. The cash flow outlook was 66.7, down 0.3 points from the second-quarter reading.
By sector, the weakness was most pronounced in real estate development and advisory and brokerage services. In development, the second-quarter BSI for business conditions was 48.7, and the industry conditions BSI was 47.5. In brokerage services, both the business conditions and industry conditions BSI stood at 33.2, while advisory services recorded 33.2 and 33.8, respectively.
Financial services posted a sharp improvement, with the business conditions BSI rising 13.5 points from the previous quarter to 90.4. However, all major indicators, including sales at 94.6 and cash flow at 93.1, still fell short of 100. In information and technology services, the business conditions and industry conditions BSI declined from the previous quarter to 75.3 and 78.3, respectively.
The biggest management challenge was 'an uncertain economic situation,' cited by 44.9% of respondents. It was followed by government regulation at 17.5%, rising labor costs at 6.5%, and a lack of funds at 5.4%.
[email protected] Choi Ga-young Reporter