Officetels Are Sold Out Too... In a Large Complex of 3,636 Units, Only 1% of Listings Are for Sale

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A man, identified as A, had been living in an officetel after renting out his Seoul apartment. Recently, amid rumors that restrictions on non-occupant owners of one home would be tightened, especially in land transaction permit zones, he sold the officetel and moved back into the apartment. Contrary to concerns from people around him that the property would be hard to sell, it was sold immediately after being listed. Only then did A begin to feel the shortage of non-apartment homes.
As signs emerge that apartment regulations in Seoul and parts of the Seoul metropolitan area may expand, including the reinstatement of heavier capital gains taxes for multi-home owners and possible restrictions on non-occupant owners of one home, demand for non-apartment homes is rising. In particular, some large officetel complexes have seen the share of homes listed for sale fall to just 2% of total units.
According to the real estate industry on the 7th, listings at large officetel complexes in Seoul have recently dropped sharply. Data from the real estate platform Asil show that as of that day, Songpa Park Habio Prugio in Songpa District, Seoul, which has 3,636 households, had only 59 units for sale, or 1.6% of the total. There was only one jeonse listing. At the neighboring complex, Songpa I-Park, where 1,357 households live, the share of units for sale is even lower. Only six units are currently listed for sale, accounting for just 0.4% of the total. There are no jeonse listings at all.
Yongsan Park Xi, with 995 households in the Han River Belt in Yongsan District, has just one listing. There are no jeonse or monthly rental units available. As sales and rental transactions have been brisk, available listings have been rapidly absorbed.
The situation is not much different in the outskirts of Seoul or in the Seoul metropolitan area. Gasan Central Prugio City in Geumcheon District, with 1,454 households, has one registered unit for sale, while Bundang Poonglim I-One Plus in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, with 2,000 households, has no units available for sale.
The growing interest in large officetel complexes is seen as the result of several factors combined, including surging apartment prices, lending restrictions, and high presale prices. Another advantage is that officetels are not counted as homes, so buyers face no practical disadvantage when applying for apartment subscriptions. According to the Actual Transaction Price Disclosure System of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, officetel sales transactions in the Seoul metropolitan area totaled 7,952 in the first quarter of this year, up 5.6% from 7,529 a year earlier.
Kim Deok-rye, head of the Housing Policy Research Office at the Housing Industry Research Institute, said, "Among people in their 30s and 40s who have not been able to buy apartments, a mood is forming that says, 'Let's at least secure an officetel.'" She added, "It appears to be serving as a stepping stone toward the ultimate goal of buying an apartment." She also noted, "This can ultimately be seen as evidence that younger people still want to buy apartments. A policy environment that allows reasonably priced apartments to be supplied steadily in Seoul is important."
kjh0109@fnnews.com Kwon Jun-ho Reporter