Seoul Apartment Supply Cliff Looms as Completions Plunge 52%

*Editor's Note: 'AI PRISM' (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an AI-based customized news recommendation and summarization service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six customized news items by reader type.

1. Seoul First-Half Move-Ins Halved, Apartments Down Nearly 60%

Key Summary: Seoul housing completions in the first half of this year totaled 15,160 units, down 52.1% from the first half of last year (31,618 units). Looking at apartments alone, the figure was 12,251 units, down 58.4% from the same period a year earlier (29,420 units), a steeper decline. Cumulative sales offerings in the first half reached 63,586 units, up 55.1% year-on-year, and Seoul recorded 13,773 units, up 110.0%. However, building permits, which are directly tied to completions, fell 8.1% in the greater Seoul area, indicating that mid-term supply conditions are also difficult. As of the end of June, unsold units totaled 67,464, up 3.4% from the previous month, but 84.2% were concentrated outside the greater Seoul area, making the dual structure of declining completions in the capital region and a buildup of unsold units in the provinces increasingly evident.

2. Riding Chip and Auto Rebound, June Sees 'Triple Increase' in Production, Consumption, Investment

Key Summary: Buoyed by the normalization of auto parts supply and a rebound in semiconductor production, the all-industry production index in June rose 2.3% from the previous month, marking the largest increase in six years. The retail sales index climbed 2.7%, and durable goods sales surged 12.6%, the largest increase since September 2009. Facility investment rose 5.8%, but construction completed fell 4.0% year-on-year despite a 5.9% increase in building construction, indicating that the real estate and construction sectors remain sidelined from the economic rebound. The fact that the cyclical component of the composite leading index rose for eight consecutive months is interpreted as supporting expectations of a mid-term economic improvement.

3. On Korea-U.S.-Japan 'Trilateral Coordination Speculation,' Exchange Rate Plunges to 1,410 Range Intraday

Key Summary: The won-dollar exchange rate plunged to 1,418 won intraday as the possibility of simultaneous intervention by Korean, U.S., and Japanese foreign exchange authorities was raised. This was the lowest level in nine months since October 20, 2025 (1,417.1 won), and both the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of Korea officially confirmed that a three-way coordination channel is in operation. The daily average foreign exchange transaction volume of foreign exchange banks in the second quarter rose 18.3% from the previous quarter to $121.44 billion, surpassing $120 billion for the first time. With market volatility on an expanding trend, some view that investors using overseas real estate investment or foreign currency loans need to check their currency risk.

4. Bank of Japan Also Holds Rate in 'Hawkish Freeze,' 'May Accelerate Pace of Hikes'

Key Summary: The Bank of Japan held its benchmark rate at 1.0%, but Governor Kazuo Ueda said, "If financial conditions are judged to be accommodative, there is a possibility of accelerating the pace of rate hikes." Rising international oil prices due to Middle East geopolitical risks and rising semiconductor and smartphone prices amid expanding AI demand were cited as inflationary pressure factors. Analysis suggests that an acceleration of Japan's rate hikes could strengthen the yen and lead to a further decline in the won-dollar exchange rate, and could act as a factor increasing costs for foreign investors in the Japanese real estate market.