Seoul's unsold dwellings growth rate hit double digits. The surge was largely due to a raft of unsold units in urban-style lifestyle dwellings and other non-apartment segments. Unlike in past home price upswings when demand spread from apartments to non-apartments such as officetels in a "balloon effect," analysts say the recent concentration of demand in apartments for end use is driving this development.
According to Seoul City data on unsold homes on the 9th, as of the end of February, privately supplied unsold dwellings in Seoul totaled 1,132 households, up 23.85% (214 households) from 914 at the end of the previous month. This contrasts with Gyeonggi and Incheon, where unsold dwellings fell 4.2% (169 households) and 0.8% (101 households), respectively.
Among Seoul's 25 districts, Mapo had the largest month-over-month increase in unsold units. Unsold dwellings in Mapo totaled 271 households, up 224 from 47 previously. Yangcheon saw unsold dwellings rise by just one household, while the remaining districts saw slight declines or no change. The district with the most unsold dwellings was Gangdong (343 households).
In Seoul, most of the increase in unsold dwellings was concentrated in non-apartment supply, such as urban-style lifestyle dwellings. Urban-style lifestyle dwellings are small dwellings supplied in complexes of fewer than 300 households and include various types such as one-room types, complex-type multi-household buildings, and row houses.
The increase in unsold supply in Mapo was in the urban-style lifestyle dwelling project Rabium Hangang. As of the end of February, 224 households of its for-sale supply remained unsold. Rabium Hangang, built by HL D&I Halla Co., Ltd., will comprise 263 households in total, with seven basement levels to 38 above-ground floors: 198 small dwellings (exclusive area 40–57㎡) and 65 officetel units (exclusive area 66–210㎡).
Another unsold dwelling project in Mapo is the urban-style lifestyle dwelling Believe The Able (47 households). Believe The Able consists of 333 households in total, including 299 urban-style lifestyle dwellings spanning six basement levels to 23 above-ground floors, and 34 officetel units.
In past periods when Seoul home price gains were strong, apartment demand spread to non-apartments, but recently this has appeared only in a limited way, leading to unsold stock. During the 2020–2021 price upswing, apartment-centered demand shifted en masse to products such as officetels. Now, however, with the land transaction permit system and designation of regulated areas concentrating demand on end use, and with the government's strong real estate policies tempering price-rise expectations compared with then, apartment demand is not spreading to non-apartments. Outside of apartments, demand has spread only to similar products such as large officetels suitable for end use or small dwellings offering good value.
The urban-style lifestyle dwellings that saw unsold units this time followed the same trend. At Rabium Hangang, there was demand for the 57㎡ exclusive units suitable for households of three to four people despite prices in the 2 billion won range, but the 40, 42, and 45㎡ exclusive units, priced in the 1.7–1.9 billion won range, remained largely unsold.
Kim Hyo-seon, senior real estate specialist at KB Kookmin Bank, said, "In the past, there was purchase demand (for non-apartments) for investment because the potential for price appreciation was clear, but now many buyers are purchasing for end use," adding, "The dwellings market is not in a situation where a lot of demand is moving out of apartments. There is merely interest in similar products with good value." Kim added, "In this situation, the unsold urban-style lifestyle dwellings in Mapo seem to have high presale prices, at a level where one could buy a nearby apartment, which appears to have further dampened demand."
Ham Young-jin, head of the Real Estate Research Lab at Woori Bank, said, "As demand for branded apartment complexes has risen, unsold units in Seoul these days are occurring mainly in projects with smaller floor plans or smaller complex sizes."