Concerns over a shortage of dwellings are intensifying, with housing supply indicators showing a uniform decline from January to May of this year. Sales also decreased by more than 40%.
The unsold dwellings classified as 'malicious unsold' reached their highest level in 11 years and 9 months.
According to the 'May housing statistics' released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 30th, all three major housing supply indicators—permits, construction starts, and completions—decreased from January to May of this year.
The cumulative permits for May stood at 110,438 dwellings, a decrease of 12.3% compared to the same period last year. However, in the metropolitan area, the scale of permits rose to 61,067 dwellings, an increase of 17.4% compared to the previous year. Notably, the cumulative performance in Seoul was 19,329 dwellings, which is an increase of 83.6% compared to the same period last year. In contrast, the regions saw a decrease to 50,271 dwellings, down 32.7%.
In May alone, permits for dwellings amounted to 20,424, marking a 15.0% decrease from the previous month. During the same period, permits in the metropolitan area reached 8,630 dwellings, a decrease of 39.5%, while the regions saw an increase to 11,794 dwellings, up 20.8% from the previous month.
For construction starts, the cumulative number in May was 74,276 dwellings, a drop of 30.3% compared to the same period last year. In the metropolitan area, there were 45,215 dwellings, down 28.6%, while the regions recorded 29,061 dwellings, a decrease of 32.7%.
The decline in construction starts accelerated further in May. The number of dwellings started was 15,211 in May, which is a 39.3% decrease from the previous month. During the same period, construction starts in the metropolitan area fell to 9,157 dwellings, a drop of 50.1%, while the regions recorded 6,054 dwellings, down 9.5% from the previous month.
Completions saw a cumulative total of 165,496 dwellings in May, down 9.9% compared to the same period last year. In May alone, completions amounted to 26,357 dwellings, a decrease of 24.9% from the previous month.
The sales market for dwellings also faced challenges. May saw 11,297 dwellings sold, which is a decrease of 44.1% from the previous month. The cumulative total for sales in May also plummeted to 52,982 dwellings, down 41.7%. This is interpreted as a pause in the sales market ahead of the presidential election in early June.
The number of malicious unsold dwellings continues to rise, particularly in the regions. At the end of last month, the national total of unsold dwellings after completion was 27,013, reflecting a 2.2% increase from the previous month (26,422). This is the largest scale since June 2013 (26,453) and marks a continuous increase for 21 months.
Of the malicious unsold dwellings, 82.91% were located in the regions. Daegu recorded the highest number of unsold dwellings after completion with 3,844, followed by North Gyeongsang Province (3,357), South Gyeongsang Province (3,121), and Busan (2,596). In Jeonbuk, the increase rate of malicious unsold dwellings was the highest at 42.4%, while Gwangju also recorded a rapid increase with a rate of 20.1%.
However, at the end of May, the national total of unsold dwellings was recorded at 66,678, down 1.6% from the previous month.
Last month, the volume of dwelling transactions was 62,703, a decrease of 4.2% from the previous month. In Seoul, dwelling transactions in May totaled 10,865, down 9.6% from the previous month. However, this figure is more than double the count in January (5,307).
The volume of rental transactions in May was 252,615, an increase of 10.5% from the previous month. The metropolitan area saw 170,190 transactions, up 9.8%, while the regions experienced an increase to 82,425 transactions, up 12.2%.
In particular, the increase in monthly rent was relatively steeper compared to jeonse. The volume of jeonse transactions in May was 93,294, reflecting a 1.6% increase from the previous month, while the volume of monthly rent transactions rose to 159,321, up 16.5%.