[Ryu Taemin's Real Estate A to Z] 3rd New Town Pre-Subscription One Month Away... How to Increase Your Winning Chances?

Priority Should Be Given to Residents with Low Average Subscription Scores
Targeting Unpopular Housing Types like Tower-Style and Niche Layouts Increases Winning Chances

[Asia Economy Reporter Tae-min Ryu] With the pre-subscription for 32,000 public sale apartments in the 3rd phase new towns in the metropolitan area and major housing sites just a month away, demanders are gearing up with fierce strategies to secure their own homes. As a large supply volume is expected to attract many applicants, the concerns of applicants are deepening. Here are some niche strategies to increase your chances of winning the pre-subscription.

Aim for Resident Priority Quotas with Higher Winning Probability

If you reside in the area where the pre-subscription units are offered, your chances of winning increase. The 3rd phase new towns receiving pre-subscription this time?Hanam Gyosan, Namyangju Wangsuk, Goyang Changneung, Incheon Gyeyang, Bucheon Daejang?are all large-scale housing development districts with an area of over 660,000㎡. Anyone residing in Seoul, Incheon, or Gyeonggi Province can apply, but residents of the respective areas can be allocated priority quotas.

If the supply area is in Gyeonggi Province, 30% of the units are preferentially supplied to residents who have lived in the area for over one year. Another 20% is supplied to residents of other areas within Gyeonggi Province, and the remaining 50% is allocated to other metropolitan area residents. For Seoul and Incheon, 50% is first supplied to residents of Seoul and Incheon, and the remaining 50% is supplied to first-stage unsuccessful applicants and other metropolitan area residents. Jeong Ji-young, CEO of I'm Happy, explained, "Resident priority subscriptions have an average score about 10 points lower than other subscription types, making the winning probability much higher," adding, "In terms of subscription account payment period, it shortens nearly three years."

Unpopular Tower-Type and Niche Floor Plans... ‘Effective’ in Increasing Winning Chances

The so-called ‘tower-type’ floor plans are less popular among demanders because cross ventilation between the living room and kitchen is difficult and south-facing orientation is hard to achieve. Even with the same area, tower-type interiors tend to look smaller compared to ‘plate-type’ floor plans. Although it varies by complex, generally, the competition for tower-type housing units is less intense.

A representative example is ‘Hanwha Forena Suwon Jangan,’ which was supplied in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, last February. The subscription competition rate for the tower-type 64㎡B was 11 to 1, lower than the 14 to 1 rate for the plate-type 64㎡A of the same area. The minimum winning score for the tower-type was 41 points, which was 7 points lower than the plate-type minimum of 48 points.

Another strategy is to target ultra-small units under 59㎡ (exclusive area, 24 pyeong) or niche floor plans between 59㎡ and 84㎡ (33 pyeong), which generally have lower competition rates than typical housing floor plans of 59㎡ and 84㎡. However, as subscription popularity rises recently, competition rates for unpopular housing types are also increasing, so ‘reading the room’ is essential. According to a survey by real estate research firm Real Today based on Korea Real Estate Board’s Subscription Home data, the competition rate for the representative niche floor plan in the 70㎡ range (70~79.99㎡) reached 13.30 to 1 in the first priority subscription in 2020, marking the highest since 2011.