New administration must make housing supply a top priority
Published: 30 May. 2025, 00:04
Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI
Joo Jung-wan
The author is an editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo.
A turning point is approaching in Seoul’s housing market. Beginning next year, the city will face a steep decline in apartment supply, a development long foreseen yet not adequately addressed. The words of former Land Minister Kim Hyun-mee — “If apartments were like bread, I would stay up all night to bake them” — now carry a renewed sense of urgency.
It goes without saying that apartments cannot be built overnight. Even setting aside the lengthy permitting process, it typically takes three to four years to complete a project after construction begins. At present, there appears to be no viable solution to the looming housing shortage in Seoul.
![Apartment complexes in Seoul are seen from Namhansanseong in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, on March 18, as apartment prices in southern Seoul begin to rise following the lifting of land transaction permit zone regulations. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/05/30/620bcd03-ee2a-4da8-9e9a-9af96900826e.jpg)
Data released in March by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Korea Real Estate Board, and Real Estate R114 paint a stark picture. The number of multiunit housing units — such as apartment complexes and town houses — expected to be completed in 2026 is just 24,462, a dramatic drop from this year’s total of 46,710 units.
The actual number of standard apartments in next year’s count is even lower, falling short of 15,000 units. That is because the statistics also include youth housing and public rental units near subway stations, which are less in demand than traditional apartments.
The shortfall is even more serious when focusing on large-scale apartment complexes, which are preferred by most homebuyers. According to Seoul city data, only three complexes with more than 1,000 units are scheduled to be completed in 2026: Raemian TriniOne (2,091 units) and The H Bangbae (3,064 units) in Seocho District, and Hillstate Media Ale (2,451 units) in Eunpyeong District. Combined, these total just 7,606 units — less than a third of this year’s figure, which includes 11 complexes and 24,375 units.
The new administration, set to launch on June 4, must treat this situation with the seriousness it deserves. At the very least, it must break from the approach taken by the Moon Jae-in administration, which ignored supply-side issues early in its term and ultimately paid the price through soaring housing prices.
The notion that Korea’s real estate woes stemmed from an overblown concern about supply — an idea championed by Kim Soo-hyun, former presidential policy chief, in his book “Real Estate Is Over” — was a grave misjudgment. In the end, it was not the critics of supply policy but the policymakers themselves who were misled.
Unlike the 2022 presidential election, when candidates like Yoon Suk Yeol and Lee Jae-myung competed to pledge massive housing construction goals — 2.5 million and 3.11 million units, respectively — this year’s campaigns have been relatively vague on the issue. Yoon, despite having pledged a bold supply strategy, achieved little during his presidency.
Lee Jae-myung’s current platform includes the broad phrase “expanding housing supply for actual demand,” but offers no clear figures or geographic breakdowns. His Seoul-specific pledge is limited to vague promises of revitalizing redevelopment and reconstruction.
Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party has also failed to provide numerical targets. His platform does propose easing regulations to boost the profitability of reconstruction and redevelopment projects, and he pledges to introduce special legislation to promote such efforts.
Lee Jun-seok of the Reform Party, meanwhile, has proposed incentives for reconstruction projects on the condition that they include expanded supply of 59-square-meter apartment units, a size popular among young buyers and small households.
While it is somewhat reassuring that no major candidate has abandoned housing supply entirely, their shared emphasis on reconstruction and redevelopment is not enough. These projects often require more than a decade to complete due to the complex and lengthy procedures involving safety inspections, zoning approvals and resident association formation. For most developments still in their early stages, actual housing units would not become available until well into the 2030s.
Given these realities, the most realistic option for delivering large-scale housing during the next administration’s term lies in the third phase new town development projects on Seoul’s outskirts. But even these are behind schedule. Accelerating them will require mobilizing the full capacity of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and related agencies. In some cases, increasing floor area ratios to boost supply might also be considered.
![Apartment buildings in Apgujeong, Gangnam District, southern Seoul, are pictured in this photo taken May 7. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/05/30/8b7183e0-b51a-4f3b-b3d6-fa97545a07b0.jpg)
Regardless of who wins the election, the incoming president must make housing supply an immediate priority. Delaying action and later lamenting, as the Moon administration did, that “apartments are not like bread” will offer no consolation. Repeating past mistakes will only deepen hardship for middle- and working-class households.
If the next administration hopes to avoid a political backlash fueled by real estate frustration in future elections, it must take urgent steps to implement effective, practical housing supply policies from the outset.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
The author is an editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo.
A turning point is approaching in Seoul’s housing market. Beginning next year, the city will face a steep decline in apartment supply, a development long foreseen yet not adequately addressed. The words of former Land Minister Kim Hyun-mee — “If apartments were like bread, I would stay up all night to bake them” — now carry a renewed sense of urgency.
It goes without saying that apartments cannot be built overnight. Even setting aside the lengthy permitting process, it typically takes three to four years to complete a project after construction begins. At present, there appears to be no viable solution to the looming housing shortage in Seoul.
Apartment complexes in Seoul are seen from Namhansanseong in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, on March 18, as apartment prices in southern Seoul begin to rise following the lifting of land transaction permit zone regulations. [YONHAP]
The actual number of standard apartments in next year’s count is even lower, falling short of 15,000 units. That is because the statistics also include youth housing and public rental units near subway stations, which are less in demand than traditional apartments.
The shortfall is even more serious when focusing on large-scale apartment complexes, which are preferred by most homebuyers. According to Seoul city data, only three complexes with more than 1,000 units are scheduled to be completed in 2026: Raemian TriniOne (2,091 units) and The H Bangbae (3,064 units) in Seocho District, and Hillstate Media Ale (2,451 units) in Eunpyeong District. Combined, these total just 7,606 units — less than a third of this year’s figure, which includes 11 complexes and 24,375 units.
The new administration, set to launch on June 4, must treat this situation with the seriousness it deserves. At the very least, it must break from the approach taken by the Moon Jae-in administration, which ignored supply-side issues early in its term and ultimately paid the price through soaring housing prices.
The notion that Korea’s real estate woes stemmed from an overblown concern about supply — an idea championed by Kim Soo-hyun, former presidential policy chief, in his book “Real Estate Is Over” — was a grave misjudgment. In the end, it was not the critics of supply policy but the policymakers themselves who were misled.
Unlike the 2022 presidential election, when candidates like Yoon Suk Yeol and Lee Jae-myung competed to pledge massive housing construction goals — 2.5 million and 3.11 million units, respectively — this year’s campaigns have been relatively vague on the issue. Yoon, despite having pledged a bold supply strategy, achieved little during his presidency.
Lee Jae-myung’s current platform includes the broad phrase “expanding housing supply for actual demand,” but offers no clear figures or geographic breakdowns. His Seoul-specific pledge is limited to vague promises of revitalizing redevelopment and reconstruction.
Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party has also failed to provide numerical targets. His platform does propose easing regulations to boost the profitability of reconstruction and redevelopment projects, and he pledges to introduce special legislation to promote such efforts.
Lee Jun-seok of the Reform Party, meanwhile, has proposed incentives for reconstruction projects on the condition that they include expanded supply of 59-square-meter apartment units, a size popular among young buyers and small households.
While it is somewhat reassuring that no major candidate has abandoned housing supply entirely, their shared emphasis on reconstruction and redevelopment is not enough. These projects often require more than a decade to complete due to the complex and lengthy procedures involving safety inspections, zoning approvals and resident association formation. For most developments still in their early stages, actual housing units would not become available until well into the 2030s.
Given these realities, the most realistic option for delivering large-scale housing during the next administration’s term lies in the third phase new town development projects on Seoul’s outskirts. But even these are behind schedule. Accelerating them will require mobilizing the full capacity of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and related agencies. In some cases, increasing floor area ratios to boost supply might also be considered.
Apartment buildings in Apgujeong, Gangnam District, southern Seoul, are pictured in this photo taken May 7. [YONHAP]
If the next administration hopes to avoid a political backlash fueled by real estate frustration in future elections, it must take urgent steps to implement effective, practical housing supply policies from the outset.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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