In March, Four Large Complexes for Sale... 8,300 Households Released

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Wanyong] Next month, four large-scale brand apartment complexes with over 1,000 households each will be launched for sale. The total supply exceeds 8,300 units. Amid a slight revival in housing market sentiment due to the government's real estate regulation easing policies and expectations of a decline in mortgage interest rates, attention is focused on whether these complexes will succeed in their subscription sales.

According to the construction and sales industry on the 16th, in March, major construction companies such as Doosan Construction, Lotte Construction, Daewoo Construction (consortium), and HDC Hyundai Development will launch a total of 8,365 units across four projects in Gyeonggi Province and Busan. Among these, 3,723 units are for general sale.

Perspective view of 'Doosan We've the Zenith Ocean City'. [Photo by Doosan Construction]

First, Doosan Construction plans to launch ‘Doosan We’ve The Zenith Ocean City’ in the Nam-gu Uam-dong area of Busan in March. The complex consists of 29 buildings ranging from 5 basement floors to a maximum of 34 floors above ground, with units sized between 59 and 84m² (exclusive area), totaling 3,048 households. Of these, 2,033 units are for general sale, excluding those allocated to association members.

Lotte Construction will sell ‘Guri Station Lotte Castle Signature’ in Inchang-dong, Guri-si, Gyeonggi Province. The complex consists of 11 buildings ranging from 6 basement floors to a maximum of 42 floors above ground, with units sized between 34 and 101㎡, totaling 1,180 households. Of these, 679 units are for general sale.

The consortium of Daewoo, GS, and Lotte Construction will also launch ‘Indeokwon Purseuviel’ in Naeson-dong, Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi Province. This complex consists of 14 buildings ranging from 4 basement floors to a maximum of 34 floors above ground, with units sized between 39 and 84m², totaling 2,180 households. Among these, 586 units are for general sale.

HDC Hyundai Development will launch ‘Gwangmyeong Central I-Park,’ redeveloped from Gwangmyeong District 4 in Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi Province. The complex consists of 11 buildings with a maximum of 36 floors above ground, with units sized between 39 and 113㎡, totaling 1,957 households. Of these, 425 units are for general sale.

The reason these large-scale complexes are concentrated in March is that the real estate market downturn had caused developers to weigh the timing of their launches. Since the second half of last year, the ongoing real estate market slump has intensified, causing newly launched apartment complexes to struggle.

According to Korea Real Estate Agency’s Subscription Home, among 14 apartment complexes nationwide that accepted subscriptions this year, only four complexes exceeded a competition rate of 1:1 when combining first and second priority applicants.

However, recently, the market has begun to rebound as expectations for the government's easing of real estate regulations such as the 1·3 measures, declines in mortgage interest rates, and additional deregulation have been reflected in market sentiment.

According to the January real estate market consumer sentiment survey released by the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, the nationwide housing purchase consumer sentiment index rose by 8.8 points from the previous month to 91.5 last month. Additionally, according to the Korea Housing Industry Research Institute, the nationwide apartment sales outlook index for February rose by 12.4 percentage points (p) to 71.1 compared to 58.7 in the previous month.