[Exclusive] "29,000 Units Like Pangyo New Town?" Actual Supply Halved Without Pre-Sale Allocations…[Real Estate AtoZ]

Government Promotes "New Supply," but Only 16,000 Units Actually Available for Application
Most Preferred Areas, Including Godokgangil and Wangsuk 2, Already Allocated Through Pre-sale
Actual Supply Concentrated in Outlying Metropolitan Areas <

Recently, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced plans to supply up to 29,000 units of public sale housing in the Seoul metropolitan area next year. However, it has been confirmed that the actual number of units available for application is only slightly more than half of that figure. While the government promoted this as "a supply on par with the creation of a new city the size of Pangyo," it did not clarify that some of these units are allocated through advance subscriptions or specify the actual number of units available for application. As a result, criticism has arisen that the government is inflating the supply figures.

In particular, most of the homes in Seoul and nearby areas-which are in high demand among real homebuyers-have already been allocated through advance subscriptions. Critics argue that this is giving false hope to low-income, homeless citizens who were planning to apply for these homes.

A bird's-eye view of the public sale housing complex consisting of 1,305 households in Godokgangil 3 Complex, Gangdong-gu. Seoul Metropolitan Government.

On November 30, an analysis of past announcements from Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH), and Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Development Corporation (GH) revealed that, among the 49 public sale housing complexes scheduled for 2026 as announced by the government, at least 25 have already recruited residents through advance subscriptions.

The total number of units allocated through advance subscriptions amounts to 13,334, which accounts for 45.5% of the 29,318 public sale units planned for next year. This means that, in reality, only 15,984 units will be newly available for application. Advance subscription is a system that allows residents to be selected one to two years before the main application, prior to the start of apartment construction. Once advance subscribers are chosen, those units are no longer available to general applicants.

Opportunities to apply for homes in the most sought-after locations were especially scarce. Of the government-announced supply, only 215 units in Seoul are actually available for application. The only Seoul allocation among the newly announced supply-the 'Godokgangil 3 Complex' in Gangdong-gu-was said to offer 1,305 units. However, 1,090 of these have already been allocated through advance subscriptions, leaving only 16.5% available for future applications.

In Seongnam Nakseong A1, which is relatively close to Seoul, 884 out of 933 units (94.7%) have already been allocated through advance subscriptions. In major blocks of Namyangju Wangsuk 2, which is considered to have good access to Seoul within the third new towns thanks to metropolitan transportation networks, 80% to 90% of the units have already been allocated through advance subscriptions.

The units not allocated through advance subscriptions are mostly concentrated in the outskirts of the metropolitan area. For example, all eight complexes in the Pyeongtaek Godok district, offering a total of 5,134 units, have no history of advance subscription. The same is true for Yangju Hoecheon A26, which is scheduled to provide 792 units. As a result, the largest supply is found in areas with relatively poor transportation access and living infrastructure, which are less attractive to real homebuyers.

Anonymous experts have pointed out that "the government should have clearly specified the number of units actually available for application," and criticized the approach as "giving false hope to low-income, homeless citizens."

Some observers argue that the government, unable to dispel concerns about housing supply shortages, has hastily inflated the supply figures. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport recently announced that next year's public sale supply in the metropolitan area would total 29,000 units, emphasizing that this is "comparable to creating a new city like Pangyo." This comparison is based on the fact that Pangyo New Town consists of about 29,000 units. However, the ministry did not explain whether advance subscription complexes were included, nor did it clarify the proportion of units that would actually be available for application.

Advance subscription, in effect, is a system that allows the government to "pre-supply" homes by drawing on future supply. As a result, when the current administration includes these units in its supply announcement, experts agree that the gap between the announced and actual number of units available for application inevitably leads to criticism of "inflated supply figures."

An official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport stated, "It is true that advance subscription units are included in next year's public sale supply, but due to complex variables such as disqualification or withdrawal from advance subscription, we did not include explanations regarding advance subscription. This was also the case during last year's public sale announcement." The official added, "There was no intention to exaggerate the supply scale, and we will consider ways to improve future supply announcements by taking advance subscription into account."

Meanwhile, the advance subscription system was introduced by the Moon Jae-in administration in 2021 to disperse demand during a period of rapid housing price increases. However, due to various factors such as construction delays, the main application process has often been postponed by more than three years, leading to repeated criticism from real homebuyers that the system amounts to "false hope." The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport abolished the system in May last year. Currently, the total number of units allocated through advance subscription stands at 99 complexes and 52,000 units.