As Loans Dry Up... "We'll Offer 'Seller Financing' Like the President": A Desperate Measure for High-Priced Homes

[Financial News] Listings offering seller financing have been rapidly increasing. The number of properties advertised under similar terms rose sharply after the seller-financing arrangement became known during President Lee Jae Myung's sale of his apartment in Bundang.

According to Edaily on the 23rd, the number of seller-financed listings posted on the real estate data platform Kkokjip stood at 265 across 122 apartment complexes.
Seller financing is an arrangement in which the seller agrees to receive part of the sale proceeds later when the buyer cannot secure all the necessary funds from a bank, while placing a mortgage lien on the property. The buyer then repays the principal and interest at the agreed-upon time. The real estate industry refers to this as "seller financing."
This type of transaction became widely known through the sale of President Lee Jae Myung's apartment in Bundang.
President Lee sold his apartment in Sunae-dong, Bundang District, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, for 2.9 billion won and registered a mortgage lien worth approximately 1.777 billion won in connection with the balance that the buyer had not paid. The presidential office explained at the time, "It was due to the buyer's circumstances."
Over the following two months, advertisements for related listings nationwide increased 16.6-fold, from 16 to 265.

The average asking price for these listings was 2.9 billion won. By price range, properties priced from 2 billion won to under 3 billion won accounted for the largest share, with 76 listings, or 28.7%. There were also 53 listings priced from 3 billion won to under 5 billion won, representing 20.0%, while 39 listings, or 14.7%, were priced at 5 billion won or more. A total of 168 listings, or 63.4% of all listings, were priced at 2 billion won or more, indicating that the arrangement was concentrated in high-priced homes.
Seoul had the largest number of listings by region, with 187, or 70.6%. It was followed by Gyeonggi Province with 71 listings, or 26.8%, and Incheon with three, or 1.1%. In Seoul, Gangnam-gu and Songpa District each had 36 listings, followed by Seongdong District with 24, Seocho District with 21, and Mapo District with 15. In Gyeonggi Province, Bundang District of Seongnam-si had 19 listings, while Gwacheon City had 12.
[email protected] Ahn Ga-eul Reporter