Major builders will add 9,000 dwellings in Godeok International New Town in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. Groundbreaking and sales could begin as early as next month. It is a "package-type public offering project," in which the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) develop sites and let builders break ground upon paying only a deposit, in return for carving out part of the site to build public housing. However, because this area already has nearly 3,000 unsold homes piled up, the inventory could worsen depending on market conditions.
According to the construction industry and LH on the 5th, the "Pyeongtaek Godeok package-type public offering project," which will be developed in three packages (P) in Godeok International New Town, will begin construction and sales in the first half of this year. Unlike the existing method in which a private operator could begin construction and sales of multifamily dwellings only after paying LH the full site price, this project allows use of the land upon paying only part of the deposit (about 10%).
Because the structure allows builders or developers to pay LH the remaining land balance with proceeds from sales after groundbreaking and sales begin, they can supply dwellings without taking out project financing (PF) loans. In return, public housing must be built on some blocks within the land provided by LH. This approach was released by the government in Mar. 2024 to boost private dwelling supply, and Godeok International New Town is the first pilot site. A construction industry official said, "You can use the land immediately upon signing the contract, and there is the advantage that the initial site cost borne by the private operator is small."
By package operator, P1 will be built by WOOMI Construction Co., GS Engineering & Construction, and ESI; P2 by BS Hanyang, JEIL Construction Co., and Daebo Construction; and P3 by Gyeryong Construction, Jungheung Construction, and Hoban Construction. The number of dwellings by package is 4,152 for P1 (275,874㎡), 2,432 for P2 (165,715㎡), and 2,247 for P3 (137,565㎡), totaling 8,831 dwellings (579,154㎡, about 175,200 pyeong). Of these, public housing accounts for 3,426 dwellings (38.7%).
A Pyeongtaek city official said, "Project approval has been obtained, and procedures such as the groundbreaking notice and approval for tenant recruitment remain." A construction company official said, "By package, construction and sales are planned for the first half, and some blocks could issue sales notices as early as Apr.–May."
The sites are close to Seojeong-ri Station on Subway Line No. 1 and the general industrial complex in the Godeok Internationalization Planning District that houses the Samsung Electronics semiconductor plant (Pyeongtaek Campus). However, given that many unsold homes still remain in the Pyeongtaek housing market, a large additional supply could worsen the unsold situation. According to Gyeonggi Province and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, as of Jan. 31, Pyeongtaek had 2,942 unsold dwellings. Pyeongtaek has the most unsold homes among the 31 cities and counties in Gyeonggi Province.
Ko Jun-seok, a professor at Yonsei University Sangnam Institute of Management, said, "If all Samsung Electronics semiconductor plants go into full operation and suppliers gather in the nearby Brain City industrial complex, demand for jobs as well as for housing will increase," adding, "An additional supply of around 9,000 new dwellings should be digestible." Ko added, "However, if variables arise, such as the Samsung Electronics plants not all going into full operation, unsold homes could accumulate further."
Kim Hak-ryeol, head of the Smart Tube Real Estate Research Institute, said, "Unsold homes accumulated over the past few years when the Samsung Electronics semiconductor plants could not operate properly, and given that it will be difficult to clear the existing unsold units over the next one to two years, additional supply could become a variable affecting sales performance."