Last Month's Housing Starts and Sales Both ↓... Permits and Completions ↑

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Last month, the nationwide housing permits and completions increased compared to the previous year. However, the indicators for future supply, such as housing starts and sales performance, declined.

According to the "November 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 34,474 units, a 3.3% increase compared to the same month last year (33,368 units). The metropolitan area and Seoul recorded 19,928 units and 4,832 units respectively, showing increases of 25.2% and 13.0% compared to the same period last year. However, the provinces recorded 14,546 units, a 16.6% decrease compared to the same month last year.

By type, apartment permits increased by 7.8% year-on-year to 26,094 units, while non-apartment housing permits decreased by 8.6% to 8,380 units.

Last month's completions, which indicate the number of houses immediately available for occupancy, also increased by 11.6% year-on-year to 39,624 units. The metropolitan area recorded 20,231 units, a 19.4% increase compared to the previous year, and the provinces also increased by 4.5% to 19,393 units. However, Seoul showed a decreasing trend with 4,868 units, down 17.9% from 5,929 units in the same month last year. It also decreased by 16.6% compared to the five-year average.

On the other hand, housing starts and sales performance, which are indicators of housing supply in a few years, both decreased.

Last month's housing starts nationwide were 37,234 units, down 6.0% from 39,616 units in the same month last year. The decline was especially significant in the metropolitan area. The metropolitan area recorded 16,156 units, a 27.2% decrease compared to the same month last year. Gyeonggi Province dropped sharply from 9,130 units last year to 781 units last month, a 91.4% decrease, and Seoul also decreased by 19.9% from 4,123 units to 3,302 units. However, the provinces increased by 21.0% to 21,078 units compared to the same month last year.

Sales performance of multi-family housing also declined. Nationwide, 32,409 units were sold, down 9.6% from 35,861 units in the same month last year. By region, 17,999 units were sold in the metropolitan area and 14,410 units in the provinces. In particular, Incheon had 7,916 units sold in the same month last year and an average of 2,296 units sold over five years, but no units were sold last month. By type, general sales accounted for 25,413 units, rental housing 2,235 units, and cooperative member supply 4,761 units. All showed decreases compared to the same month last year.

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