"Seoul Metro Area, Three Major Catalysts Prove Useless"... Even 'Standard Units' Ignored as Unsold Home Glut Returns to Two Key Regions [Real Estate AtoZ]

"Banse-gwon" Pyeongtaek and Icheon Face Another Wave of Unsold Homes
Unsold Inventory Rebounds in August: 4,197 Units in Pyeongtaek, 1,667 in Icheon
Series of Unsold Medium-sized Units Favored by End-users
Pyeongtaek Apartment Prices Down 6.18%, Lowest Among 178 Regions Nationwide
Subscription Competition Rate at 0.1?0.2 to 1... Market Effectively "Disappeared"

The unsold housing inventory in Pyeongtaek and Icheon, areas known as "Banse-gwon" (regions adjacent to semiconductor industrial complexes), has once again started to rise. This trend persists despite various positive development factors such as the "Semiconductor Cluster," the "Greater Seoul Metropolitan Express Railway (GTX)," and proximity to train stations.

Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Semiconductor Campus Line 2 Overview. Samsung Electronics.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, as of the end of August, the total number of unsold homes in Gyeonggi Province stood at 11,857 units, an increase of 1,344 units from the previous month. Of these, Pyeongtaek (4,197 units) and Icheon (1,667 units) accounted for more than half of the province's unsold inventory, and their monthly increases ranked among the highest nationwide. In just one month, unsold homes in Pyeongtaek rose by 715 units, while Icheon saw an increase of 477 units.

Looking at monthly trends, both regions saw a gradual decrease in unsold inventory after peaking in January, only to rebound in August. In Pyeongtaek, unsold homes dropped from 6,438 units in January to 3,482 units in July, but began climbing again in August. Icheon experienced a similar pattern, with unsold homes decreasing from 1,873 units to 1,190 units during the same period, before rising again in August.

The majority of unsold inventory is concentrated in medium-sized units ranging from 60 to 85 square meters of exclusive area. In Pyeongtaek, about 80% of unsold homes-3,336 units-are in this category, which is typically favored by end-users, yet sales remain sluggish. In Icheon, 97% of unsold units are focused on the so-called "national standard size" (units with an exclusive area of 84 square meters or less).

Pyeongtaek is home to the Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Semiconductor Campus, while Icheon hosts the headquarters of SK Hynix, making them prominent "semiconductor industry hubs." Large-scale housing developments were launched to capitalize on these locational advantages, but the lack of actual demand has resulted in an oversupplied market.

According to the Korea Real Estate Board, as of the fifth week of September, apartment prices in Pyeongtaek have fallen by 6.18% year-to-date, while Icheon has seen a 3.49% decline. Pyeongtaek ranks last among the 178 cities, counties, and districts tracked nationwide, with Icheon also near the bottom. The subscription market has also been hit hard. In Icheon, the recent Bubaek Station Epitte Edition project attracted only 123 applications for 692 units in June, resulting in a competition rate of just 0.17 to 1. Around the same time in Pyeongtaek, only 38 applications were received for the 1,200 units offered at the Brain City Medi-Spark Rosebian Moaelga development. Effectively, the subscription market has "disappeared."

The problem is that this supply glut is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Pyeongtaek is scheduled to see a total of 27,000 new housing units completed by 2027, while Icheon is set to add 5,065 units in just one year. These figures exceed the appropriate demand for each region (9,000 units over three years, or 1,000 units annually) by three to five times.

In the past, the expectation of "Banse-gwon" benefits fueled active trading of pre-sale premiums in these areas. Recently, however, an increasing number of listings are being offered at negative premiums, with sellers willing to take losses amounting to tens of millions of won. Despite major positive factors such as the extension of the GTX-A and GTX-C lines, the development of the Jije Station integrated transfer center, and the expansion of the Samsung Semiconductor Campus, actual demand has not materialized, resulting in a double blow of falling prices and rising unsold inventory in Pyeongtaek.

Additionally, because these regions are located within the Seoul metropolitan area, they fall outside the scope of government measures targeting unsold housing. The Korea Land and Housing Corporation's (LH) post-completion purchase of unsold units, the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation's (HUG) unsold unit buyback program, and corporate restructuring (CR) REITs all focus exclusively on non-metropolitan areas.

Park Wongap, Chief Real Estate Expert at KB Kookmin Bank, analyzed, "The perception that the semiconductor industry is no longer as strong as it once was has diminished the impact of positive factors, and the gap between supply and demand continues to widen. As a result, it is highly likely that the market downturn will persist until demand for actual occupancy begins to pick up in earnest."