Unsold Houses Surge by 10,000 Units in 4 Months... Frequent Shortages Also in the Seoul Metropolitan Area

Apartment buildings in the Seoul area (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] As undersubscription incidents continue to surge even in the outskirts of the metropolitan area, the polarization of apartment subscription is intensifying. It is interpreted that the real estate market is slowing down, and the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province, which are less popular, are being hit first. Concerns are growing that the unsold housing situation will worsen as a supply surge is forecasted in the future.

According to the housing statistics announced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 1st, as of February, the total number of unsold houses nationwide was 25,254 units, an increase of 16.2% (3,527 units) compared to the previous month (21,727 units). The number of unsold houses has continued to increase since recording 14,075 units in October last year, rising by more than 10,000 units in four months.

Unsold houses in the metropolitan area surged by 74.9% to 2,318 units compared to the previous month. Metropolitan unsold houses have been on the rise for four consecutive months since recording 1,290 units in October last year. This is due to the Gyeonggi region sharply increasing from 855 units in January to 1,862 units in February, a 117.8% rise. In particular, Anseong, once called the ‘unsold housing graveyard,’ has recently shown signs of stagnation again. The number of unsold houses in Anseong in February accounted for 1,068 units, representing 57.3% of the total unsold units in Gyeonggi Province.

The sharp increase in metropolitan unsold houses is largely influenced by the undersubscription crisis. In the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province where sales have been made this year, there are many complexes that fail to find buyers, with competition rates dropping to decimal points. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s subscription website, ‘Woobang IU Shell STG’ in Anseong, Gyeonggi, which was offered in January, had 341 applicants for 916 units, closing with an average competition rate of 0.37 to 1. Subsequently, with continued cancellations, according to Anseong city statistics, 805 units remained unsold as of the end of February.

At the end of last month, ‘Pyeongtaek Hwayang Humanville Firstisty’ in Hyeondeok-myeon, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, had 1,227 applicants for 1,468 units, leaving 241 units unsold. Although the popular 84㎡ exclusive area was fully subscribed, the other three types were undersubscribed.

Moreover, as there are many undersubscribed complexes not yet reflected in the statistics, the number of unsold units is expected to increase further. For ‘e-Pyeonhansesang Anseong Granluce’ in Dangwang-dong, Anseong, Gyeonggi, which started subscriptions on the 2nd of last month, undersubscription occurred in 4 out of 6 housing types. Despite conducting subscriptions up to the second priority for 1,274 units, 356 units remained unsold. On the same day, ‘Shin Yangju Moa Elga Nike’ in Baekseok-eup, Yangju, Gyeonggi, had 308 applicants for 491 units, leaving 183 units unsold. Only one out of four housing types was fully subscribed.

As the apartment sales market shows signs of adjustment, experts in the sales industry analyze that the market atmosphere in the outskirts of the metropolitan area is freezing first in the subscription market as well. A sales industry official said, “With nationwide supply flooding the market, complexes with poor location conditions or those where it is difficult to expect capital gains are likely to continue facing unsold housing issues,” adding, “On the other hand, complexes with good locations and expected capital gains due to the application of the price ceiling system still have strong subscription enthusiasm, and polarization is expected to deepen.”

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