[Real Estate Investment] Focus on Complexes with Resale Restrictions Lifted on Pre-sale Rights in the Second Half of This Year

The nationwide competition rate for first-priority subscription in August rose more than twice compared to July, reaching 20.3 to 1. The recently closed subscription for ‘Sangdo Prugio Clavenue’ in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, has an average sale price of 39.63 million KRW per 3.3㎡ (1 pyeong), with the highest price for an exclusive area of 84㎡ at 1.3393 billion KRW. For real demand buyers discouraged by soaring sale prices and subscription competition rates in Seoul, keeping an eye on the pre-sale rights market could be another way to secure a home. Especially in the second half of this year, pre-sale rights for six complexes including Jangwi Xi Radiant, Olympic Park Foreon, and Gangdong Heritage Xi will be tradable, so real demand buyers should carefully check the dates when resale restrictions are lifted.

Six Complexes Available for Pre-Sale Rights Trading in the Second Half... Olympic Park Foreon Also Opens

According to RealToday on the 20th, there are a total of six complexes in Seoul where pre-sale rights trading will be possible in the second half of this year. In November, pre-sale rights trading will be allowed for ‘Riversen SK View Lotte Castle (1,055 households)’ in Junghwa-dong, Jungnang-gu. This complex, scheduled for move-in in November 2025, is located near Jungnang Station on Line 7, and currently, the cooperative member move-in rights for exclusive 59㎡ units are priced between 850 million and 920 million KRW.

In December, pre-sale rights for large apartment complexes such as ‘Olympic Park Foreon (12,032 households)’, ‘Jangwi Xi Radiant (2,840 households)’, and ‘Gangdong Heritage Xi (1,299 households)’ are expected to be released to the market. ‘Olympic Park Foreon’ in Dunchon-dong, Gangdong-gu, will allow resale starting from the 15th. The market price for cooperative member move-in rights is about 1.6 billion KRW for exclusive 59㎡ and 1.9 billion KRW for exclusive 84㎡. The move-in is scheduled for January 2025.

On the 16th of the same month, pre-sale rights trading will be possible for ‘Jangwi Xi Radiant’ in Jangwi-dong, Seongbuk-gu. This complex, scheduled for move-in in March 2025, recently saw an actual transaction of cooperative member move-in rights for exclusive 84㎡ at 1.10133 billion KRW. ‘Gangdong Heritage Xi’ in Gil-dong, Gangdong-gu, will allow resale from the 29th and is scheduled for move-in in June 2024. Cooperative member move-in rights for exclusive 84㎡ are listed around 1.3 billion KRW.

Reviving Pre-Sale and Move-In Rights Market... Nationwide Transaction Volume in the First Half Up 70% Compared to Last Year

The Seoul pre-sale rights market, which had been banned from resale under the June 19, 2017 measures, has been reviving since April when the ‘Housing Act Enforcement Decree Amendment’ easing apartment pre-sale rights resale restrictions was implemented. With the easing of resale restrictions, the resale ban period is three years for public land in the metropolitan area or regulated areas, one year for the overconcentration control zone including all of Seoul, six months for other areas, and resale restrictions have been completely lifted in the remaining regions. As the pre-sale rights resale restriction period was significantly eased, the transaction volume of pre-sale and move-in rights in early this year increased by more than 70% compared to last year.

According to Zigbang, the total nationwide transactions of pre-sale and move-in rights in the first half of this year amounted to 23,282 cases. This is a 71% increase from 13,549 cases in the same period last year. Compared to the second half of last year (13,215 cases), it also increased by about 75%. Seoul’s transaction volume surged more than fivefold from 48 cases in the first half of last year to 284 cases in the first half of this year. Especially, high-priced transactions exceeding 1.5 billion KRW increased 5.8 times from 18 cases last year to 106 cases this year.

Incheon also saw a sharp increase from 530 cases in the first half of 2022 to 3,218 cases in the first half of this year, and Gyeonggi-do’s transaction volume rose from 1,173 to 4,043 cases, invigorating the pre-sale and move-in rights market in the metropolitan area including Seoul. The provinces showed similar trends. Daegu, which had suffered from unsold units, saw its pre-sale and move-in rights transactions increase more than threefold from 613 cases in the first half of last year to 2,395 cases this year.

The increase in pre-sale and move-in rights transactions is closely related to the strong subscription market. Since the easing of subscription-related regulations, subscription competition rates have been rising monthly, and with soaring sale prices, demand is shifting toward pre-sale rights. According to Real Estate R114 data, the nationwide average apartment sale price per 3.3㎡ rose 2.9% from 16.82 million KRW in the first quarter to 17.3 million KRW in the second quarter this year. Especially in Seoul, it increased 16.4% from 25.93 million KRW to 30.17 million KRW during the same period. As apartment sale prices in Seoul soar, even small apartments in Gwanak-gu have exceeded 900 million KRW in sale price.

Ye Kyung-hee, senior researcher at Real Estate R114, analyzed, "In the case of new apartments in Seoul, the rise in sale prices combined with concerns about supply shortages is creating an atmosphere to preempt the pre-sale rights market for new apartments," adding, "The enthusiasm for subscriptions is shifting to the pre-sale and move-in rights market."

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