SH Corporation Earned 3 Trillion KRW in Profits Over 14 Years Through Public Sale

Rep. Ha Tae-kyung and 27 Districts of Gyeongsilryeon Announce Analysis of Sale Prices

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] The Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH Corporation) has been alleged to have earned more than 3.1 trillion won through public sales over the past 14 years.

On the 30th, the office of Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, and the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) announced the results of an analysis of the sales cost and sales price of 39,217 units in 27 districts sold by SH Corporation from 2007 to 2020. This estimate of profit was based on the apartment complex-specific sales cost disclosure data submitted by SH Corporation to Ha’s office.

They calculated the figures based on data publicly disclosed by SH Corporation during Mayor Oh Se-hoon's term (2007?2009), but for Mayor Park Won-soon's term (2010?2020), when SH Corporation withheld data, they applied their own estimates.

The analysis showed that total sales profit over 14 years amounted to 3.069 trillion won, with an average profit of 80 million won per unit. Breaking it down by mayoral terms, sales profit during Mayor Oh Se-hoon's tenure was 1.1971 trillion won, with a profit of 50 million won per unit. During the late Mayor Park Won-soon's tenure, sales profit reached 1.8719 trillion won, with an average profit of 110 million won per unit.

For small housing units under 60㎡ (exclusive area), there was a loss of 2.8 million won per unit during Mayor Oh’s term, but during Mayor Park’s term, there was an average profit of 140 million won per unit.

Ha’s office and CCEJ pointed out that from Mayor Park’s term onward, SH Corporation did not disclose sales costs, and that the sales price bubble worsened due to the land price appraisal methods under the Park Geun-hye administration.

Looking at sales profits by district, Magok District is estimated to have generated the largest total sales profit of 460.1 billion won, with 110 million won profit per unit. Wirye District had the highest profit per unit at 220 million won, totaling 370.8 billion won in profit.

They argued that if SH Corporation had retained the housing as public housing instead of selling it, given the current average apartment price in Seoul of 1.08 billion won, it would now hold assets worth approximately 42.3 trillion won.

Representative Ha said, "The current public enterprise sales method, which justifies excessive profits by blaming rising land prices, only fuels housing price surges," adding, "The government, having failed to stabilize housing prices, must break the vicious cycle of sales profiteering that unfairly shifts the burden onto ordinary citizens."

CCEJ stated, "If the Seoul Metropolitan Government and SH Corporation have the will, they can set affordable sales prices for consumers by adding reasonable profits to input costs," and emphasized, "Sales costs must also be transparently disclosed."

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