The number of apartments offered for presale in South Korea rose more than 30% this year, yet the number of people applying for them fell. Demand concentrated in Seoul and prime locations in the greater capital area, including the third-phase new towns, while provincial regions and parts of the capital area drew weak interest, sharpening a split in the market for new homes.
Nationwide, first-round applications for new apartments averaged 5.6 bidders per unit, down sharply from 10.2 a year earlier, according to an analysis by property platform Zigbang released on the 6th covering complexes that published occupant recruitment notices between Jan. 1 and Sept. 18. General-supply units totaled 85,321, up 34% from a year earlier, but first-round applications fell 26.6% to 475,009.
Public presales were the clear winner by supply type. They averaged 19 bidders per unit, more than four times the 4.4 recorded for private presales. The A3 block in Namyangju Wangsuk District 2 drew 126.8 bidders per unit, Wangsuk Atera 105.5 and the C27 block in Hwaseong Dongtan District 2 100.6, concentrating demand in the third-phase new towns and major public land developments in the capital area.
Complexes subject to the price cap on new homes also fared relatively well. They averaged 10.8 bidders per unit, about 2.9 times the 3.7 recorded at complexes not covered by the cap.
By region, the tilt toward Seoul was most pronounced. The city averaged 63.1 bidders per unit, the highest in the country. Seoul accounted for just 2.8% of general-supply units nationwide but 31.9% of first-round applications, at 151,473. Acro Seocho in Seoul's Seocho district drew 32,973 applicants for 30 general-supply units, a ratio of 1,099.1 to 1 and the highest in the country this year.
Gyeonggi Province saw its average fall to 5.3 bidders per unit from 11.4 a year earlier. The gap by supply type was wide: private presales drew just 1.6 bidders per unit, while public presales drew 21.1. In Incheon, applicants crowded into major complexes in Songdo and Geomdan, lifting the average to 6.4 bidders per unit from 3.2 a year earlier.
Outside the capital area, Beomeo Station Park de Dream D'AR in Daegu's Suseong district was the only complex to post a triple-digit ratio, at 101.5 to 1. By contrast, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Gangwon State, Busan and Ulsan all averaged fewer than one bidder per unit.
An official at Zigbang said that even if more presales come to market this autumn, demand is unlikely to broaden across the board and will instead keep flowing selectively to complexes with strong locations, competitive presale prices and favorable surrounding supply conditions.
