Land Minister Hong Ji-seon: Housing supply in the Seoul metropolitan area falls short of demand; all-out effort to boost supply

[Financial News] Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) Hong Ji-seon said housing supply is failing to keep up with demand amid instability in home prices in the Seoul metropolitan area.
On the 5th, Minister Hong said on social media (SNS), "Housing demand continues due to factors such as marriage and the increase in single-person households, but housing supply in Seoul and the Seoul metropolitan area has yet to keep pace."
"The solution is to build homes," he said, explaining, "Supply is what needs to move fastest. As confidence in supply grows, demand is less likely to fluctuate due to anxiety."
Minister Hong stressed, "To address the sluggish permitting and construction starts that have persisted since 2022, the government has pooled resources across the government since immediately after taking office and drawn up three supply measures. It is working to provide at least 1.5 million homes in the Seoul metropolitan area over five years."
He said, "We will go all out on supply," adding, "Supply within Seoul is an issue that MOLIT and the Seoul Metropolitan Government must resolve together. MOLIT will mobilize every available measure, including revitalizing urban improvement projects such as redevelopment and reconstruction, expanding supply in the Yongsan International Business District (YIBD), and swiftly advancing public urban complex projects, and move quickly to implement them. The Seoul Metropolitan Government should also actively work to develop supply measures the public wants."
Meanwhile, Minister Hong also commented on the slowdown in the rise of apartment sale prices in Seoul. He added, "Some price indicators are showing encouraging signs for housing market stability. Prices continue to fall, particularly in Seoul's Gangnam area, and the pace of increases has also eased across Seoul. Listings for homes for sale in Seoul have topped 80,000, the highest level so far this year."

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