Last Year, Seoul's No.1 Subscription Competition Rate Reached 28 to 1... Highest Ever

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] Last year, the competition rate for apartment subscriptions in Seoul reached an all-time high.

According to an analysis of data from the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute by Real House, a specialized apartment sales evaluation company, the average first-priority subscription competition rate in Seoul in 2019 recorded 28.03 to 1, marking the highest level since apartment subscription competition rates were first announced in 2009. Although the number of apartments offered for general sale in Seoul last year was 11,907 units, which is higher than average, a total of 333,761 applicants applied for apartment subscriptions, breaking the record for the highest competition rate ever.

Looking at the annual trend of subscription competition rates in Seoul, the rates remained in the single digits from 2009 to 2014. After recording double-digit competition rates (an average of 13.49 to 1) in 2015, the Seoul sales market has shown no signs of cooling down. Although the average competition rate slightly dipped to 12.31 to 1 in 2017 after the Moon Jae-in administration took office, it rose to 27.34 to 1 in 2018 and 28.03 to 1 in 2019, showing an increasing trend each year.

Kim Byung-gi, head of the sales team at Real House, analyzed, "The main reason for the rise in subscription competition rates is that the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) and others have effectively controlled the sale prices, and due to the designation of high-priced sale management areas, the sale prices were set lower than the surrounding areas."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.