Seoul apartment buying sentiment ‘stagnant’, unsold homes increase nationwide

Confidence in buying apartments in Seoul, which had risen for the seventh week in a row since the election, has slowed. Housing sales in March fell sharply from a year ago, and the number of unsold apartments across the country increased.

According to the Korea Real Estate Agency’s time series data on apartment price trends for the 4th week of April on the 29th, the Seoul apartment sales and demand index was 90.5, down from 91.4 last week. On the basis of the trading supply and demand index, 100, a value lower than this indicates a selling propensity, and a higher value indicates a stronger buying propensity.

In the case of apartment buildings in Seoul, the index rose for the seventh week in a row since the fourth week of February (86.8), just before the presidential election, on expectations of the next government’s real estate tax and deregulation. Last week, the supply-demand index rose to the highest level in three months, but it is analyzed that the upward trend has slowed as the Presidential Transition Committee postponed the announcement of the relaxation of reconstruction regulations after the inauguration of the government.

By region of Seoul, the index did not decline in the southeast area (Gangnam 4-gu) and the southwest area (Mok-dong, Yeouido), where there are many reconstructions, but maintained the level of last week. The Northwest region, which includes Eunpyeong, Seodaemun, and Mapo, fell from 89.1 last week to 87.0 this week, and the northeast region (Nowon, Gangbuk, Dobong) also fell from 88.7 to 86.8. Gyeonggi-do’s index fell from 92.5 last week to 91.0 this week, and Incheon’s index fell from 94.5 to 94.0 during the same period.

The nationwide housing transaction volume in March fell to less than half compared to March last year. The nationwide transaction volume was 53,461, which was 52.4% of the level in March of last year (102,109). The transaction volume in the metropolitan area decreased further, reaching 20,109 last month, which was only 40.7% of the level in March of last year (49,358). During the same period, Seoul also saw a 54.2% decrease in transactions from 11,122 to 5098.

The number of unsold units is on the rise. The number of unsold homes nationwide in March was 27,974, up 10.8% (2,720) from February (25,254). Compared to March of last year (15,270 households), there were more than 10,000 unsold homes. In the metropolitan area, there were 2921 households, an increase of 26.0% (603 households) from the previous month (2318 households). During the same period, the number of unsold houses increased from 47 to 180 in Seoul. In rural areas, there were 25,053 households, an increase of 9.2% (2,117 households) from the previous month (22,936 households). In Daegu, where the number of unsold homes continues to increase, the number of unsold homes increased by 2011 (44.0%) from 4561 households in February to 6572 households in March. The number of ‘unsold unsold houses after completion’ decreased by 1.0% (72 households) from February (7133 households) to 7,061 households nationwide.