Seoul City Reiterates Request to Ministry of Land for Mandatory Reporting of Unsold Housing

Apartment buildings in the Seoul area
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Tae-min Ryu] On the 12th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it has once again requested the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to amend the law to mandate the reporting of unsold housing units.

In December last year, Seoul proposed a legal amendment including the mandatory reporting of unsold housing units at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Housing Policy Council, stating that prompt mandatory reporting is necessary to provide citizens with accurate and transparent information.

According to the current Housing Act, housing sale announcements must be submitted to the district office within the jurisdiction. However, reporting of sales results and unsold units is not mandatory. Therefore, statistics on unsold housing rely solely on voluntary reports from project owners.

As of the end of last year, there were 953 unsold units in Seoul. This is about 22% compared to the previous peak of 4,331 units in September 2013. The actual unsold units after completion number 340, which is only 0.01% compared to the total housing stock of approximately 3.78 million units.

Although this is not a level of concern compared to the economic downturn ten years ago, the city views the need for countermeasures considering the nationwide increasing trend of unsold units and the medium- to long-term impacts on the national economy, real estate, and households.

Going forward, Seoul plans to analyze and monitor the regional characteristics and housing types of unsold units in detail every month and provide a "Monthly Seoul Unsold Housing Analysis Report" on its website. The city is also considering building a system to provide unsold housing information in an easily understandable way for citizens.

Kim Seung-won, Director of Housing Supply Planning at Seoul City, said, "We will systematically manage statistics and characteristics of unsold housing units to provide accurate information to citizens and correct any confusion among them."