Seoul apartment transactions down 14.7%, housing starts plunge in the Seoul metropolitan area ... unsold homes decline

[Financial News] Apartment sales in Seoul fell 14.7% in September from the previous month. Housing starts in the Seoul metropolitan area plunged 43.3% from the same month a year earlier. Meanwhile, nationwide unsold homes and completed but unsold homes both declined from the previous month.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s September 2026 Housing Statistics, Seoul apartment sales totaled 3,915 transactions, down 14.7% from 4,589 the previous month. Home sales in the Seoul metropolitan area also fell 1.7% to 25,302 transactions. By contrast, transactions outside the Seoul metropolitan area rose 4.8% to 23,695, bringing nationwide transactions to 48,997, up 1.3%.
September housing starts totaled 9,308 units in the Seoul metropolitan area, 1,176 in Seoul and 6,738 outside the Seoul metropolitan area, down 43.3%, 13.5% and 50.2%, respectively, from the same month a year earlier. Cumulative starts from January through September fell 5.7% to 96,047 units in the Seoul metropolitan area, while rising 36.5% to 21,855 in Seoul and 10.3% to 76,395 outside the Seoul metropolitan area.
Housing permits in September totaled 17,620 units in the Seoul metropolitan area and 4,431 in Seoul, down 15.2% and 8.5%, respectively, from the same month a year earlier. Cumulatively from January through September, permits rose 1.5% to 113,676 units in the Seoul metropolitan area and 33.3% to 44,371 in Seoul.
The supply of multi-family housing in September totaled 6,508 units in the Seoul metropolitan area and 14 in Seoul, down 47.7% and 94.5%, respectively, from the same month a year earlier. Cumulatively from January through September, supply rose 25.6% to 95,086 units in the Seoul metropolitan area and 73.7% to 15,976 in Seoul. Completions over the same period fell 19.1% to 89,805 units in the Seoul metropolitan area, 17.6% to 26,881 in Seoul and 32.8% to 79,308 outside the Seoul metropolitan area.
At the end of September, nationwide unsold homes totaled 65,941 units, down 4.6% from the previous month. Completed but unsold homes totaled 27,549 units, a 1.9% decrease. Nationwide jeonse and monthly-rental transactions totaled 196,210, down 1.5% from the previous month.

[email protected] Choi Ga-young Reporter