[Weekly Review] 250,000 New Housing Sites to Be Announced by Q2... Widening Income Gap

'Taereung Golf Course Site' Public Housing District Designation to be Promoted in the Second Half of This Year
Green Onion, Egg, and Chicken Prices Surge... Producer Prices Rise for Three Consecutive Months

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The government plans to select candidate sites for approximately 250,000 new public housing lots from the 2·4 measures by the second quarter. The goal is to stabilize housing prices by supplying homes until 2025. Income disparity has worsened due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

◆ 250,000 New Housing Lots to be Announced by Q2 = The government plans to select candidate sites for new public housing lots by the second quarter at the latest. On the 17th, Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, held a real estate market inspection meeting with related ministers at the Government Seoul Office and said, "We will focus all our capabilities on accelerating the execution speed of the 2·4 supply measures," adding, "To prevent market confusion, we will thoroughly prepare detailed matters such as zoning and plan to complete the announcement of candidate sites swiftly from the first quarter through the second quarter." The government plans to process related bills in March and implement them in June. It will promote legislative amendments through member bills to the Public Housing Special Act, Urban Maintenance Act, Small-scale Maintenance Act, and Urban Regeneration Act. Additionally, the Tae-neung Golf Course site will be designated as a public housing district in the second half of this year.

◆ Income Polarization Deepens... Quintile Ratio Rises Year-on-Year = In the fourth quarter of last year, when the third wave of COVID-19 began, income polarization between the upper and lower income groups worsened, and distribution indicators deteriorated for two consecutive quarters. According to the '2020 Q4 Household Trends Survey' released by Statistics Korea on the 18th, the average monthly income of the first quintile (lowest 20%) households in Q4 last year was 1.64 million KRW, a 1.7% increase compared to the same period the previous year. During the same period, the average monthly income of the fifth quintile (highest 20%) households was 10.026 million KRW, up 2.7%, recording a higher income growth rate than the first quintile. The quintile ratio of equivalized disposable income, used as an income distribution indicator, rose by 0.08 points from Q4 2019 to 4.72. The quintile ratio divides income groups into five and calculates the ratio of the average income of the top 20% (fifth quintile) to the average income of the bottom 20% (first quintile).

◆ Prices of Green Onions, Eggs, and Chicken Surge... Producer Prices Rise for Three Consecutive Months = Producer prices have risen for three consecutive months, driven by an overall increase in agricultural product prices. The Producer Price Index released by the Bank of Korea on the 19th was 104.88 last month, up 0.9% from the previous month, marking the third consecutive month of rising increases since November last year. In particular, prices of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products jumped 7.9% month-on-month, the largest increase since August 2018. By item, green onions (53%), pumpkins (63.7%), chicken (42.8%), eggs (34%), onions (29.5%), croaker fish (33.6%), and rockfish (47.8%) showed high rates of increase. In response, the government plans to stabilize agricultural product prices by importing additional fresh eggs and releasing government stockpiles of rice.

◆ Exports Up 69.1% from February 1 to 10 = According to the Korea Customs Service on the 15th, exports from February 1 to 10 amounted to 18 billion USD, an increase of 69.1% (7.34 billion USD) compared to the same period last year. The significant increase in exports this month is largely due to 1.5 more working days. The number of working days from February 1 to 10 this year was 8.5 days, compared to 7 days during the same period last year. However, even considering this, the average daily export value rose 39.3% to 2.11 billion USD. By major items, exports increased year-on-year for semiconductors (57.9%), passenger cars (102.4%), petroleum products (37.5%), wireless communication devices (88.0%), and automobile parts (80.6%).

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