The government plans to break ground on up to 136,000 additional homes in the greater Seoul area by the end of the year. Even so, total groundbreakings for 2026 are expected to fall as much as 50,000 units short of the original target of 268,000, as private redevelopment projects run behind schedule. Officials ruled out speculation about further mortgage restrictions and said they would decide whether to extend land transaction permit zones, which expire at year-end, after watching market conditions. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also plans to resume talks with the Seoul Metropolitan Government on expanding housing supply once the parliamentary audit of government agencies wraps up.
The Office for Government Policy Coordination and the ministry held the first regular briefing on housing supply at the Government Complex Seoul on the 16th, projecting that groundbreakings in the greater Seoul area will reach 218,000 to 235,000 units this year. That is 81% to 88% of the annual target of 268,000. The shortfall comes to between 33,000 and 50,000 units, and the government said it would secure as many remaining groundbreakings as possible by year-end.
Progress so far falls well short of the goal. As of the second week of October, groundbreakings in the greater Seoul area totaled 99,000 units, or about 37% of the annual target. For public housing, construction began on 16,200 of the targeted 62,000 units, an achievement rate of about 26%. For newly built homes purchased by the government, 13,000 of a targeted 42,000 units broke ground, or 31%. Private redevelopment projects started 17,000 units through September, filling just 23.6% of their 72,000-unit target.
The government plans to concentrate its efforts on public housing groundbreakings for the rest of the year. It will tighten construction scheduling to ensure that about 45,000 public housing units and about 28,000 newly built purchased homes break ground within the year. "We set aggressive targets this year, and as a result everything was bunched into the second half," said Kim Yi-tak, first vice minister of land, infrastructure and transport. "Going forward, we will work to spread the volume across the year."
Officials pointed to delays in the private sector as the main reason the annual target has become difficult to meet. "Groundbreakings on public volume, centered on the Korea Land & Housing Corporation, will come close to 100%," said Chung Woo-jin, head of the ministry's housing supply task force. LH is the state-run housing developer. "We expect groundbreakings to land at 81% to 88% of the target, depending on results in private volume such as redevelopment projects and non-apartment housing, which the government has little control over." Redevelopment projects in Seoul are broadly expected to meet their goals, he said, but groundbreakings are declining in Gyeonggi and Incheon because projects are not financially viable.
The government also stressed that supply indicators have passed a trough and are improving. From January to August, housing permits in Seoul totaled 40,000 units and groundbreakings 21,000 units, up 40% and 41%, respectively, from the same period a year earlier. "What we showed is a trend of groundbreakings rising after hitting a trough," Kim said. "We hope the market reads improving supply indicators as a good signal."
Officials denied the possibility of further financial restrictions. Asked whether the government was considering additional lending curbs, Kim said, "This is the first I'm hearing of it," adding, "There is no such thing." On land transaction permit zones whose designations expire at the end of the year, the government plans to decide on an extension after watching how the market moves. "We will keep monitoring market conditions through the end of the year and then decide whether to extend," Kim said. "We are also looking at neighboring areas."
Separately, the Seoul Metropolitan Government held a briefing the same day on the release of a white paper titled "An Assessment and Reflection on 20 Years of Seoul Housing Supply Policy," pointing to the large-scale cancellation of redevelopment districts in the past as a main cause of the current supply shortage. The city said 389 of 683 redevelopment districts, or 57%, were canceled between 2012 and 2020, the tenure of former Mayor Park Won-soon, erasing the chance to supply 430,000 homes. Groundbreakings on redevelopment projects also nearly halved, falling from an annual average of 29,000 units in 2016-2020 to 15,000 units in 2021-2025, the city said.
"Over the past decade, when an annual average of 37,000 to 40,000 apartments were supplied in Seoul, there was no particular relocation crisis," said Kim Seong-bo, Seoul's second vice mayor for administrative affairs. "We will continue to support the supply of 40,000 private and 20,000 public units each year."
Talks between the central government and Seoul on housing supply will also resume. Kim Yi-tak and Kim Seong-bo plan to meet after the parliamentary audit ends to discuss ways to expand supply. The meeting is intended to align key agenda items ahead of a session between Hong Ji-sun, the land minister, and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. The ministry and the city said they were "holding working-level talks" and would "explain the results separately once they are available."