Seoul Apartment Completions Drop 58% in First Half... Even Construction Starts Fall 12% [Real Estate AtoZ]

Ministry of Land Releases 'June Housing Statistics'

Seoul Housing Presale Volume Doubles

A residential complex in downtown Seoul featuring both apartments and houses. Photo by Jojong Jun

Although the number of housing pre-sales increased in the first half of this year, the number of newly built homes (completed units) across the country, which were ready for immediate occupancy after construction, dropped by about half compared to a year earlier. The decline in newly completed apartments in Seoul, where demand is highest, was especially sharp, plummeting by nearly 60%. Moreover, even the number of construction starts—which influences the housing supply over the next 2 to 3 years—fell by more than 12% nationwide.

According to the “June Housing Statistics” released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on July 31, the number of nationwide housing completions from January to June 2026 was 103,735 units, a decrease of 49.5% compared to the same period last year. The decrease was heavily concentrated in apartments. The number of completed apartments fell by 52.8% to 90,276 units, while the number of non-apartment completions dropped by 5.1% to 13,459 units. Notably, completed apartments in Seoul numbered 12,251 units, a decrease of 58.4%, which is an even steeper drop than the national average.

The initial stage of building new homes—construction permits—also shrank. The number of nationwide housing permits issued in the first half totaled 116,611 units, down 15.8% compared to a year earlier. In Seoul, the total number of new housing permits was 20,655 units, a decrease of 9.8%. For the month of June alone, the number of permits in Seoul was 1,603 units, representing a sharp fall of 55.1% compared to June of the previous year.

June 2026 Nationwide Housing Construction Performance. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

On the other hand, some of the previously postponed construction starts and pre-sales were reflected in this year's first-half numbers, resulting in an increase compared to the previous year. Across the country, a total of 118,005 homes broke ground in the first half, up 14.4% compared to the same period last year. The number of pre-sales for multi-family housing nationwide reached 109,186 units, marking a significant 60.7% year-on-year increase.

Seoul also saw a slight increase in total construction starts in the first half, with 13,121 new housing starts, up by 2.0% year-on-year. However, this increase was driven by non-apartment housing. The number of apartment starts in Seoul was 9,421 units, a decrease of 12.2%, while non-apartment starts surged by 73.7% to 3,700 units.

Pre-sales in Seoul in the first half reached 13,773 units, approximately double the figure of a year earlier (up by 110.0%). In June alone, pre-sales hit 2,396 units, up 2.5 times (an increase of 153.3%) compared to the same month last year. Pre-sales statistics are based on multi-family housing, including apartments, row houses, and multiplex dwellings.

The volume of housing transactions increased compared to the previous month. Nationwide, 68,819 existing home sales were recorded in June, a 3.5% increase from May. Compared to June of the previous year, this represents a 6.8% decrease, but the cumulative figure for the first half of 2026 (396,274 transactions) shows a 10.6% year-on-year increase. In Seoul, apartment transactions in June accounted for 7,742 cases, a decrease of 13.5% from May (8,946 cases).

Nationwide rental (jeonse and wolse) transactions in June totaled 218,618, up 4.2% from the previous month. Jeonse contracts accounted for 71,306, while wolse (monthly rent) contracts totaled 147,312, meaning monthly rent was more than double jeonse. Monthly rent figures include both chonsei with deposit and semi-jeonse agreements.

In the first half of the year, the proportion of monthly rent transactions out of all rental contracts reached 68.4% nationwide, up 7 percentage points from 61.4% a year earlier. In Seoul, the proportion was 69.8%. Looking at apartments only, the nationwide share of monthly rent was 52.4%, and in Seoul it was 52.0%, indicating that monthly rent agreements outnumbered jeonse contracts.

Housing Inventory of Unsold Homes Nationwide in June 2026. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

The inventory of unsold homes continues to increase. As of the end of June, the nationwide stock of unsold homes reached 67,464 units, an increase of 3.4% compared to the previous month.

The number of unsold homes after completion, often referred to as “malignant unsold homes,” has been on the rise for two consecutive months. As of the end of June, the nationwide inventory of unsold homes post-completion stood at 29,786 units, up 1.5% from the previous month. Of these, about 84%—or 25,091 units—were concentrated in regions outside the capital area.

By region, Daegu had the largest number of “malignant unsold homes” with 3,575 units, followed by Busan (3,292), South Gyeongsang (3,226), North Gyeongsang (2,973), Gyeonggi (2,568), South Chungcheong (2,372), and Jeju (2,339).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.