Non-apartment permits down 10.9% on-year

Groundbreakings fall 15.2%, completions 9.7%

Jeonse and monthly rent deals down 13.5% from a year earlier

A villa neighborhood in Yongsan-gu as seen from Namsan. [Herald DB]
A villa neighborhood in Yongsan-gu as seen from Namsan. [Herald DB]

Permits, groundbreakings and completions for non-apartment housing — including villas and officetels — all declined last month compared with a year earlier. Seoul apartment supply indicators, however, improved from the same period last year amid a severe housing shortage.

According to July 2026 housing statistics released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Monday, all leading supply indicators for non-apartment housing fell. Permits came in at 2,644 units in July, down 10.9 percent from 2,969 units in the same month last year. Groundbreakings dropped 15.2 percent over the same period, from 2,750 units to 2,331 units, while completions shrank 9.7 percent, from 2,628 units to 2,372 units.

Seoul apartment supply indicators told a different story, improving from July last year. Permits jumped 102.9 percent to 7,103 units from 3,500 units in the same month a year earlier. Groundbreakings surged from 278 units to 5,574 units — a 1,905 percent increase — and completions rose 8.8 percent, from 4,919 units to 5,352 units.

As of the end of last month, unsold units nationwide stood at 68,217, up 1.1 percent from 67,464 the previous month. Of those, units left unsold after completion fell 2.1 percent to 29,152 from 29,786 the month before.

Home sales transactions totaled 63,185 in July, down 8.2 percent from 64,235 in the same month last year. In the Greater Seoul metropolitan area, transactions edged up 0.1 percent to 34,749 from 34,704 a year earlier, while regional markets outside the capital contracted 3.7 percent, from 29,531 to 28,436. Apartment sales in Seoul fell particularly sharply, declining 15.2 percent to 6,564 transactions from 7,742 the previous month.

Jeonse and monthly rent transactions totaled 210,985, down 13.5 percent from 243,983 the previous month.

Monthly rent accounted for 68.3 percent of all lease transactions signed from January through July this year, up 6.5 percentage points from the same period a year earlier. The share stood at 63.8 percent in Seoul and 64.5 percent in regional areas.

For apartments, monthly rent made up 52.0 percent of lease deals in Seoul and 53.3 percent in regional areas. For non-apartment housing, the figures were 78.0 percent in Seoul and 87.5 percent in regional areas.


hwshin@heraldcorp.com