Four unsold-home management areas in November... Icheon redesignated; Osan and Cheonan removed

[Financial News] Icheon in Gyeonggi Province has been added to the list of unsold-home management areas again.
According to the Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) on the 5th, Icheon City will be designated as an unsold-home management area from the 10th through the 9th of next month. The reasons are that unsold homes are being cleared slowly and there are concerns that their number will grow further. Yeongjong-gu has remained designated since July 10 for the same reasons. Busan’s Gangseo-gu and Gyeongsan in North Gyeongsang Province met all three criteria, including an increase in unsold homes, and remain management areas. All four areas are designated through December 9.
Unsold-home management areas are selected from among cities, counties and districts with at least 1,000 unsold homes and an unsold-home ratio of at least 2% relative to the stock of multi-unit housing, if they meet at least one of the following criteria: an increase in unsold homes, slow absorption of unsold homes, or concern about unsold homes. The areas may be adjusted in part, taking into account local conditions, the housing market and government policy. To obtain a presale (project-finance, or PF) guarantee in a management area, applicants must undergo a preliminary review. The review is completed within three business days. If the result is “Good” or “Average,” applicants may apply for a guarantee within six months. If the result is “Insufficient,” the application is put on hold and must be reviewed again. If the result is “Insufficient” twice or more, applicants may apply for a guarantee subject to fund-management conditions. Rental housing projects, redevelopment projects, and post-sale projects that begin selling units when construction is at least 60% complete are among those exempt from review.
The number of management areas fell sharply in a month. In October, five areas were designated, including Yeongjong-gu, Osan, Gangseo-gu, Cheonan and Gyeongsan. As of August, these areas had 11,235 unsold homes, or 16.2% of the national total of 69,134. With Osan and Cheonan removed this time, unsold homes in the management areas fell to about half, and their share of the national total dropped to 9.0%. Icheon was first designated as a management area in August 2024. In August last year, it was the only such area in the country; it was removed from the list in January this year and redesignated in February, and has repeatedly been designated and removed.

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