[Full Bloom Spring Sale] Over 100,000 Households Nationwide in April and May..."Subscription Fever Continues"

On the 29th, after the spring rain that had been falling throughout the weekend stopped, citizens visiting the cherry blossom path along Yunjung-ro in Yeouido, Seoul, where yellow dust accompanied by fine dust arrived, are taking a walk. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] As the cherry blossoms, which had been dormant throughout the winter, are now in full bloom, the doors to the housing pre-sale market have also opened wide. Construction companies, which had been weighing the timing of pre-sales due to COVID-19 and the April 7 by-elections, are rushing to open model houses and prepare to actively welcome buyers. Although panic buying among the 2030 generation has subsided and housing prices are stabilizing, demand for new apartments remains strong. This is due to several reasons for purchasing a home piling up, including the Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG)'s revised high pre-sale price review, pre-sale prices that are only 60-70% of market prices, fatigue from soaring jeonse (long-term deposit lease) prices, and a supply shortage caused by the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) employee land speculation scandal.

The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has also increased the importance of the home’s role, further fueling pre-sale enthusiasm. As social distancing has become routine and work styles have diversified into flexible and remote work, the function of the home has shifted beyond simple rest to become the center of work and leisure.

The pre-sale fever has been heating up since the beginning of the year. Most of the complexes pre-sold this year have recorded high competition rates, continuing a streak of first-priority subscription closures. According to Real Estate 114, out of a total of 366 housing types that received subscriptions nationwide as of the 16th of this month, 331 (90.4%) were closed at the first priority subscription stage. In particular, apartments in the metropolitan area remain highly popular. During the same period, all 172 apartment housing types in the metropolitan area that accepted subscriptions were closed at the first priority stage. For example, Wirye Jaideocity in Changgok-dong, Sujeong-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, recorded a competition rate of 617.6 to 1. In Seoul, Goduk Gangil Punggyeongchae in Goduk-dong, Gangdong-gu (150.2 to 1), and Jayang Haneulchae Ber in Jayang-dong, Gwangjin-gu (367.4 to 1) also attracted a large number of subscription accounts, recording triple-digit competition rates.

Experts predict that despite various government regulations such as restrictions on resale and strengthened mandatory residence requirements, the cherry blossom pre-sale subscription fever will remain hot this year. Kyunghee Yeo, Senior Researcher at Real Estate 114, said, "Government regulations do not significantly impact the current subscription market, which has been restructured to focus on actual demand," adding, "Concerns are growing that the 3rd New Town housing supply plan will be disrupted due to the recent LH scandal, which will also stimulate subscription sentiment."

In line with the intense enthusiasm, a large volume of pre-sale supply is also prepared. According to Zigbang, 56,514 households in April and 52,679 households in May will be pre-sold nationwide, which is 4 to 5 times higher compared to the approximately 10,000 households in January and February.

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