[사설] Seoul large-scale map subscription price plummeted, urgent preventive measures to prevent the spread of unsold houses

The consequences of the real estate market crash have also affected the actual market for selling apartments in Seoul. Seoul’s large-scale districts, which are considered invincible in sales, have experienced low subscription competition rates one after another, and the winning subscription bonus points have also been reduced. “Olympic Park Foreon (Dunchon Jugong)”, which attracted a lot of attention to the point that “rumors of 100,000 season tickets” were raised, had 20,000 applicants, and the average competition rate was only 5.45 to 1, and the winning score of 49㎡ registered 20 points. Seongbuk-gu’Jangwi Xi’ with 2,800 households collapsed to 20 points for 84㎡, which is highly preferred. The value of the subscription is 84 points and the additional 20 points for winning can be said to be a box office bust. Seoul’s poor season ticket report card may send a negative signal to the overall season ticket market, fueling fears of unsold sales. The number of unsold apartments across the country stood at 47,217 at the end of October, more than three times higher than a year ago, and the rate of increase is high.

An increase in unsold homes is a dangerous signal for the housing market. If sales do not dry up, construction companies will not be able to recoup their investment in time and will fall into a liquidity crisis, which can lead to bankruptcy of construction companies and insolvency of securities firms and savings banks that have granted PF loans. Also during the 2008 financial crisis, there were a number of bankruptcies at mid-sized construction companies and in the second financial sector as the number of unsold homes rose to 165,000 due to the collapse in house prices. The possibility of a recurrence of such a crisis cannot be ruled out.

As unsold houses are emerging as the biggest ambush of the economic crisis, drastic measures are urgently needed to prevent the spread of unsold houses. The government has come up with one countermeasure after another, such as abolishing regulatory zones and easing lending, but the housing market, which has been shut down, is not hot. Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong recently said: “There is no activity before interest rates” and predicted that the effect of deregulation would be insignificant, but now is not the time to respond to the light. All of Seoul and four provinces of Gyeonggi (Gwacheon, Seongnam, Hanam and Gwangmyeong) are still tied to restricted areas and are subject to regulations such as subscriptions, taxes, loans and resale restrictions. As the warning sound is getting louder in both the presale market and the commercial market, Seoul should also consider removing it from the regulated area. In addition, further measures to prevent a hard landing, such as easing the hefty acquisition tax for people with multiple homes and reviving the registered rental business system, must be rushed.
[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]