Frozen Housing Market... Transactions Keep Declining, Unsold Units Increasing

31,000 Unsold Houses Nationwide in July... 12.1% Increase from Previous Month
Total Housing Sales Transactions 39,000... 21.3% Decrease from Previous Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Wanyong] As homebuyer sentiment has become extremely subdued, the real estate market appears to be entering the worst "ice age" in history. Sales have plummeted by more than half compared to a year ago, and the number of unsold homes is increasing every month.

According to the housing transaction statistics for July released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 31st, the nationwide housing sales volume (based on the reporting date) was recorded at 39,600 cases. This represents a 21.3% decrease compared to the previous month (50,304 cases). Compared to the same month last year (88,937 cases), it has sharply dropped by 55.5%.

The cumulative number for this year (January to July) was also 349,860 cases, down 46.0% from the same period last year. This is the lowest level in five years for the same period. The sales volumes recorded were 501,000 cases in 2018, 381,000 cases in 2019, 762,000 cases in 2020, and 648,000 cases in 2021, respectively.

By region, the metropolitan area (16,734 cases) decreased by 22.9% compared to the previous month and by 60.2% compared to the same month last year. The provinces (22,866 cases) decreased by 20.0% compared to the previous month and by 51.2% compared to the same month last year.

The decline in housing transactions is leading to an increase in unsold homes. Last month, the nationwide number of unsold homes was 31,284 units, up 12.1% (3,374 units) from the previous month (27,910 units). The metropolitan area had 4,529 units, an increase of 1.6% (73 units) from the previous month (4,456 units), while the provinces had 26,755 units, up 14.1% (3,301 units) from the previous month (23,454 units).

The number of persistent unsold homes that remain unsold even after completion also increased by 3.6% (258 units) to 7,388 units nationwide compared to the previous month (7,130 units).

Jeonse and monthly rent transactions also slowed somewhat. The total nationwide volume of jeonse and monthly rent transactions last month, combining lease reporting system data and fixed-date reporting data, was 210,903 cases, down 0.8% from the previous month (212,656 cases). Compared to the same month last year (203,251 cases), it increased by 3.8%.

The cumulative volume of jeonse and monthly rent transactions up to July was 1,781,370 cases, up 30.8% compared to the same period last year (1,362,140 cases).

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