Last Month's Housing Permits, Starts, and Completions All Declined

▲ Infographic of Nationwide Housing Construction Performance in February 2020 (Provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Last month, nationwide housing permits, construction starts, and completions all decreased compared to the same month last year. However, pre-sales increased by about 7,000 units.

According to the "February 2020 Nationwide Housing Construction Performance" announced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 30th, last month's nationwide housing permit performance was 37,980 units, down 10.1% from 42,254 units in the same month last year. However, the metropolitan area and Seoul recorded 26,216 units and 5,651 units respectively, increasing by 0.9% and 6.5% compared to the same month last year.

By type, apartment permits last month were 30,327 units, down 11.8% compared to last year and 7.3% compared to the 5-year average. Non-apartment housing also decreased by 2.7% compared to last year and 34.8% compared to the 5-year average, totaling 7,653 units.

Last month's housing construction starts nationwide were 23,373 units, down 2.4% from 23,958 units in the same month last year. The metropolitan area showed a significant decrease of 31.4% compared to last year and 25.6% compared to the 5-year average with 11,526 units. In contrast, the provinces increased by 65.8% compared to the same month last year with 11,847 units, but decreased by 8.9% compared to the 5-year average.

By type, apartments increased by 0.6% compared to last year with 16,862 units but decreased by 3.3% compared to the 5-year average. Non-apartment housing decreased by 9.5% compared to last year and 41.1% compared to the 5-year average with 6,511 units.

Pre-sales of multi-family housing nationwide were 16,796 units, up 65.7% from 10,138 units in the same month last year. However, since last month the multi-family housing subscription work was transferred from the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute's "Apt2you" to the Korea Real Estate Board's "Subscription Home," nationwide pre-sale volume was only 40 units. Thus, the cumulative total for January to February this year was 16,836 units, down 34.3% compared to the same period last year and 26.0% compared to the 5-year average.

By region, 8,875 units were pre-sold in the metropolitan area and 7,921 units in the provinces. By type, general pre-sales were 10,932 units, rental housing 1,471 units, and cooperative member supply 4,393 units.

Last month's housing completions nationwide were 40,386 units, down 26.1% from 54,634 units in the same month last year. The metropolitan area recorded 24,219 units, down 13.3% compared to last year but up 20.7% compared to the 5-year average. The provinces recorded 16,167 units, down 39.4% compared to last year and 25.5% compared to the 5-year average.

By type, 32,243 apartments and 8,143 non-apartment housing units were completed. Apartment completions decreased by 34.2% compared to the same period last year but increased by 6.2% compared to the 5-year average. Non-apartment housing decreased by 5.4% compared to last year and 28.7% compared to the 5-year average.

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