Reason Behind the Shortage of Jeonse Listings: 67% Concentrated in the Three Gangnam Districts

Seven out of every 10 jeonse listings for Seoul apartments are concentrated in the three Gangnam districts (Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa). That is why it is still harder to find a jeonse home, even though the number of listings has topped 20,000. The imbalance is especially severe, as the total number of listings in all 22 non-Gangnam districts is still lower than Seocho District alone.
According to real estate platform Asil on the 30th, 14,176 of Seoul's 21,209 jeonse listings, or 66.8%, were concentrated in the three Gangnam districts as of the previous day. Seocho District had 7,938 listings, followed by Gangnam District with 4,737 and Songpa District with 1,501. Compared with the same date over the past four years, this year's share for the three Gangnam districts is the highest.
Among the three Gangnam districts, Seocho District has the most listings because a wave of move-ins is taking place in the second half of the year. In general, when move-ins begin, jeonse supply rises sharply as listings flood the market all at once. This month, move-ins are under way in Seocho District at projects including Autier Banpo with 275 households, Raemian Triniwon with 2,091, and THE H Bangbae with 2,064. Given that jeonse listings were in the low 4,000s earlier this year, the number has nearly doubled. By contrast, Gangnam District and Songpa District have fewer listings than at the start of the year.
The problem is that the share and number of apartment jeonse listings in districts outside the three Gangnam districts are falling sharply. In fact, Seocho District's 7,938 listings on the 29th exceeded the combined total of the 22 districts excluding Gangnam and Songpa, which stood at 7,033. The decline is being interpreted as the result of multi-home owners selling off all but their most valuable property ahead of the reinstatement of heavier capital gains taxes, while end users are also moving aggressively to buy homes of their own.
Outside Gangnam, Gangdong District has the most jeonse listings at 816. In particular, districts such as Dobong District, Guro District and Geumcheon-gu, where deposits are relatively low, each have fewer than 200 listings. Seoul apartment jeonse listings had fallen to 15,105 in April, but they have risen by more than 5,000 in just over three months. Even so, people are saying that finding a home has become even more difficult. A real estate industry official said, "In the outskirts of Seoul, it is hard to find even double-digit jeonse listings in large complexes with more than 1,000 households," adding, "Supply is shrinking while demand is rising, and prices have jumped sharply as well."
[email protected] Kwon Jun-ho Reporter