The number of housing completions in Seoul in the first half of this year dropped by more than half compared to the same period last year.

While housing starts and preliminary sales—which serve as leading indicators for housing supply—increased, completions that translate into actual move-ins dropped sharply, raising concerns over short-term supply shortages.

According to housing statistics for June released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Friday, housing completions in Seoul totaled 15,160 households from January to June, marking a 52.1% decrease from 31,618 households during the same period last year.

Among them, apartment completions stood at 12,251 households, down 58.4% from 29,420 households in the first half of last year.

For the month of June alone, housing completions in Seoul reached 2,049 households, plunging 77.7% from 9,178 households in the same month last year.

Apartment completions in Seoul totaled 1,561 households, a steep 82.1% decline from 8,718 households recorded in the same month of the previous year.

Housing completions nationwide also decreased.

Nationwide housing completions in the first half of the year totaled 103,735 households, down 49.5% from 205,611 households a year earlier.

Apartment completions fell 52.8% to 90,276 households, while non-apartment completions declined 5.1% to 13,459 households.

On the other hand, leading indicators for housing supply showed improvement.

Nationwide housing starts in the first half rose 14.4% to 118,005 households from 103,147 households in the same period last year.

Housing starts in Seoul for the first half increased by 2.0% to 13,121 households, while June starts in the city surged 67.9% year-on-year to 3,491 households.

Nationwide apartment pre-sales in the first half reached 109,186 households, up 60.7% from 67,965 households a year earlier.

Pre-sales in Seoul surged 110.0% to 13,773 households, and June pre-sales in the city jumped 153.3% from the same month last year to 2,396 households.

However, nationwide housing building permits in the first half fell 15.8% year-on-year to 116,611 households.

Permits in Seoul also dropped 9.8% to 20,655 households. On a cumulative basis for the first half, building permits declined in both the capital area (-8.1%) and regional areas (-24.5%) compared to last year.

Monthly trends diverged in June, as regional building permits (7,736 households) rose 49.6% from the previous month, while permits in the capital area (10,181 households) fell 28.1%.

Nationwide housing transaction volume in June stood at 68,819 cases, up 3.5% from the previous month.

Transactions rose 1.6% to 39,078 cases in the capital area and 6.2% to 29,741 cases in non-capital areas.

However, apartment transactions in Seoul dropped 13.5% from the previous month to 7,742 cases.

Nationwide jeonse and wolse (lump-sum deposit and monthly rent) transaction volume in June increased by 4.2% from the previous month to 218,618 cases, but decreased by 9.8% compared to the same month last year.

Transactions grew 5.2% monthly in the capital area to 146,810 cases and 2.3% in regional areas to 71,808 cases.

The cumulative jeonse and wolse transaction volume for the first half reached 1,449,232 cases, up 0.5% from the same period last year.

Categorized by lease type, jeonse transactions rose 8.5% from the previous month to 71,306 cases, but recorded a 19.8% decline compared to the same month last year.

Wolse transactions increased by 2.3% monthly to 147,312 cases, while dropping 4.0% year-on-year.

On a cumulative basis for the first half, the proportion of wolse transactions stood at 68.4%, up 7.0 percentage points from the same period last year, sustaining a wolse-dominated market trend.

Unsold housing nationwide at the end of June reached 67,464 households, a 3.4% increase from the previous month.

Completed unsold housing, often referred to as toxic unsold units, rose 1.5% from the previous month to 29,786 households, continuing an upward trend for the second consecutive month.

Total unsold units increased by 0.9% in the capital area to 18,770 households and by 4.4% in regional areas to 48,694 households.

Among completed unsold units, homes located in regional areas accounted for 25,91 radiant households, or 84.2% of the total.

Daegu recorded the highest number at 3,575 households, followed by Busan (3,292 households), Gyeongnam (3,226 households), Gyeongbuk (2,973 households), Gyeonggi (2,568 households), Chungnam (2,372 households), and Jeju (2,339 households).

(Photo: Yonhap News)