Subscription schedules for major apartment complexes in the Seoul metropolitan area that were slated to go on sale within the year are being pushed to next year. Analysts say the calculation by associations that the later they sell, the higher the sale price could be, combined with a wait-and-see stance to "watch the impact of regulations," is at play. Among would-be applicants, there is grumbling that home prices keep rising while new offerings are drying up.
According to the construction industry on the 27th, the sale schedule for Otiere Banpo, the reconstruction of Shinbanpo 21st in Jamwon-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, has been delayed from December this year to February next year. A POSCO E&C official said, "We plan to start sales in February next year and move in March." Otiere Banpo is a post-sale complex, and if the schedule holds, successful applicants would have to pay the down payment, interim payment and balance all within a month.
Otiere Banpo sits near Banpo Station on Subway Line 7 and is drawing expectations as a "lotto subscription" complex. Because the price-cap system applies, winners could expect about 2 billion won in gains versus market prices. The market expects a sale price of 85 million won per 3.3 square meters, which would put a 59-square-meter unit at 2.125 billion won and an 84-square-meter unit at 2.89 billion won. Comparable units at nearby Banpo Xi are trading between 3.8 billion and 5 billion won. Otiere Banpo will comprise two buildings with four basement levels to 20 above-ground floors, totaling 251 units of 44–130 square meters, of which 87 will be offered for general sale.
Builders say sales are being delayed due to procedural issues such as design changes, but it is understood that final coordination over pricing is taking time. Associations typically want higher general sale prices. That is because higher sale prices reduce members' cost burdens. In Gangnam, however, the price cap prevents sale prices from rising to match nearby market levels. A construction company official said, "Many associations are repeatedly adjusting sale prices to recoup at least some of the construction costs that have risen due to higher raw material prices."
The Shop Sinpung Station, a regional housing association complex in Singil 5 District, Singil-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, also postponed its sales schedule to January next year. The Shop Sinpung Station is a large complex of 16 buildings, three basement levels to 35 above-ground floors, totaling 2,030 units, with 312 to be supplied for general sale. The Shop Le Privé (138 general-sale units), a reconstruction of Jinju Apartment in Mullae-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, has also pushed its schedule to February next year. Acro River Sky (309 units) in Daebang-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, also delayed its within-year sales.
Apartment sale schedules are also being delayed one after another in Gyeonggi Province. Unlike Seoul, many complexes worry about weak demand due to the impact of regulations. Doosan We've The Central Suwon in Yeonghwa-dong, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi, which became a regulated area after the Oct. 15 measures were announced, also postponed its sale schedule to next year. Another construction company official said, "Unlike Seoul, where many jump into the subscription market with hundreds of millions of won in cash, Gyeonggi has many first-time end users, so the hit from loan regulations is inevitably larger," and added, "With the possibility of regulatory easing being raised around the local elections, it appears there is also a judgment to delay subscription schedules."