[Real Estate Finance] New:Home, Duplicate Applications Allowed if Winning Dates Differ...Check Residency Obligations Carefully

Publicly supplied housing New:Home is preparing for its third round of supply this month. Amid rising burdens from high interest rates and recovering apartment sale prices, New:Home attracts attention from buyers looking for opportunities to own a home by offering units at prices lower than market value. Applicants can choose according to their circumstances by checking eligibility for special and general supply by housing type (Nanum-type, Select-type, General-type), but they should also review whether multiple applications are allowed for each complex.

◆New:Home Eligibility Requirements, Based on Pre-Subscription Announcement Date

View of the Public Relations Center of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) Goyang Project Headquarters in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province / Photo by Yonhap News

The third New:Home pre-subscription targets 3,295 households across seven regions, with special supply applications accepted from the 16th to 17th of this month and general supply from the 18th to 19th.

Due to the nature of New:Home, where the main subscription follows the pre-subscription, eligibility is based on the pre-subscription announcement date. Therefore, even if a worker who won the pre-subscription retires before the main subscription or later exceeds income criteria, it does not affect their winning status.

To apply for New:Home, applicants, their spouses, and immediate family members listed on the resident registration must be without home ownership and subscribed to the Housing Subscription Savings account. There must be no history of multiple wins or disqualified wins, and residency in the relevant area is mandatory from the pre-subscription to the main subscription.

Income and asset requirements for special supply include that youth (unmarried, aged 19-39, without home ownership) must have a monthly average income at or below 140% of the urban worker average. Net assets are checked only for Nanum-type and Select-type, with a limit of 289 million KRW or less. The parental asset criterion (1.083 billion KRW or less) must also be met.

For newlyweds, the criteria are couples married within seven years or with children aged six or younger, with a monthly average income at or below 130% (140% for dual-income households). First-time buyers are those purchasing their first home who have paid income tax for at least five years and have a spouse or children. The same 130% monthly average income limit applies as for newlyweds. Net assets must be 379 million KRW or less (Nanum-type and Select-type), the same for both types. Multi-child families and those supporting elderly parents can apply for Nanum-type if they meet the income criterion of 120% or less. For General-type, real estate and automobile values are considered in asset evaluation.

In this case, children living with homeowners can apply for youth special supply if they meet the relevant criteria as of the announcement date. However, parental asset size will be verified regardless of divorce status. If parents (without home ownership) and children live separately, one parent and the child can simultaneously apply for the same New:Home. Winning a special supply pre-subscription excludes selection in the general supply.

Applicants may want to apply to two or more complexes, and multiple applications are allowed if the announcement dates differ. For example, one can apply simultaneously to Magok District 10-2 Complex in Gangseo-gu, Seoul (announcement on November 2) and Techno Valley A6 Block in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon (announcement on November 3). In case of multiple wins, the earlier announcement date is recognized. However, if multiple applications are made to complexes with the same announcement date and a win occurs, all wins will be disqualified.

◆New:Home Supply Continues in December

Residency requirements after winning vary by type. Nanum-type units are sold at 70% or less of market price and require mandatory residence for five years. Upon resale, 70% of the capital gains are guaranteed. Select-type units are rented at below-market rates for six years, after which buyers can choose to purchase. General-type units are subject to the price ceiling system and are sold at about 80% of market price.

New:Home is the new name for public housing under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and a national agenda item. Two rounds of pre-subscription have been successfully completed so far. The first pre-subscription, conducted in four locations including Changneung in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province, recorded an average competition rate of 20.5 to 1. The second pre-subscription in June attracted attention with an average competition rate of 283 to 1 at the Seoul Dongjak-gu Capital Defense Command site. The general supply competition rate reached 645 to 1, the highest ever for public housing. This was due to the location’s partial Han River view and prices set below surrounding market rates.

The government plans to accelerate public housing supply to meet its target volume within its term and to prevent housing shortages. The final New:Home pre-subscription of the year is scheduled for December, targeting areas such as Seongdui Village in Seocho-gu, Seoul, and military sites in Daebang-dong, Dongjak-gu. A Ministry of Land official said, "Through previous pre-subscriptions, we confirmed the strong desire of youth and non-homeowning low-income citizens to own homes," adding, "We will proceed smoothly not only with this pre-subscription but also with the overall housing supply schedule."