Seven 84㎡ reserve units up for bid

Rising sale prices fuel string of reserve-unit sales

A street-level view of Cheongnyangni Station Lotte Castle Sky-L65. [Naver Maps Street View]
A street-level view of Cheongnyangni Station Lotte Castle Sky-L65. [Naver Maps Street View]

Reserve units at a flagship apartment complex in Dongdaemun-gu — recently Seoul's top-performing district for apartment price gains — are hitting the market, though buyers chasing a bargain may find the pickings slimmer than usual. Such reserve units, known colloquially as "jupjup" deals, typically trade at a steep discount to market prices, but the gap this time is expected to be only 100 million to 200 million won (about $72,000 to $145,000).

According to industry sources, the promotion committee for the Cheongnyangni Zone 4 Urban Environment Improvement Project — marketed as Cheongnyangni Station Lotte Castle Sky-L65 — recently issued a public tender notice for reserve-unit sales. Seven units with an exclusive use area of 84 square meters are on offer through a highest-bid open competition, with the bidding deadline set for June 9.

Minimum bid prices vary by floor. <style ref="s0">Three units on the fourth floor carry minimum bids of 1.7745 billion to 1.7875 billion won, a unit on the 10th floor is listed at 1.884 billion won, and units on the 12th floor range from 1.884 billion to 1.8925 billion won.</style>

Cheongnyangni Station Lotte Castle Sky-L65, located in Jeonnong-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, is a large mixed-use complex comprising five towers ranging from seven below-ground floors to a maximum of 65 above-ground floors, with apartments and officetels. The complex was pre-sold in 2019 at a pre-sale price of 26 million won per pyeong (3.3 square meters).

Since then, a wave of new apartment developments in the Cheongnyangni and Imun-Hwigyeong areas, combined with the district's strong transport links and lifestyle infrastructure, has driven a string of record transaction prices. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price disclosure system, <style ref="s0">an 84-square-meter unit at Cheongnyangni Station Lotte Castle Sky-L65 sold for 2.04 billion won on April 30, joining the so-called "national floor plan 2 billion won club." A 102-square-meter unit also set a new record on May 9, changing hands at 2.46 billion won.</style>

The promotion committee's decision to sell reserve units is widely seen as tied to those record prices. Reserve units are apartments that a redevelopment association sets aside — rather than offering in the general pre-sale — as a buffer against shortfalls in member allocations or project costs. For the association, they represent a way to improve project profitability by pricing units in line with prevailing market rates.

Apartment prices across Dongdaemun-gu have been moving sharply. In the fourth week of May, KB Real Estate data showed the district posted a 0.44 percent week-on-week gain in apartment sale prices — the highest of any district in Seoul and well above the 0.01 to 0.08 percent increases recorded in the three Gangnam districts of Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu and Songpa-gu.

Reserve units are sometimes called "lottery" deals because they can offer a discount of 400 million to 500 million won below market value, but the units at this complex are priced only about 100 million to 200 million won below current market rates, limiting the potential windfall. A promotion committee official said the seven units had never previously been sold and that the minimum bid prices were set based on independent appraisals.

Meanwhile, Raemian La Grande in Imun-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, has also announced the sale of 12 reserve units. Minimum bid prices are set at 1.35 billion won for 59-square-meter units and 1.65 billion won for 84-square-meter units — roughly 100 million won below recent market prices, though still more expensive than last month's unranked apartment subscription offering, which was priced near the original pre-sale level and was expected to yield a profit of around 500 million won.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's transaction data, an 84-square-meter unit at Raemian La Grande set a new record at 1.75 billion won on May 8. A 59-square-meter unit also hit a new high in April, selling for 1.499 billion won.


hss@heraldcorp.com