Real Estate Market Stalled in Impeachment Fog...Freeze for at least 6 months.

[Anchor]
The real estate market, which was active in spring and summer last year but slowed down due to loan regulations, seems to have hardened due to the impeachment.

People living and selling in the unknown fog have stopped, and this situation is expected to last until at least the first half of the year.

Reporter Kim Ki-bong's report.

[Reporter]
Apartment prices in Seoul have remained flat for two weeks.

The rise in apartment prices in Seoul, which soared to 0.32% a week in August, has gradually lost strength and remained flat since September, and the trend is similar across the country.

In the aftermath of loan regulations and interest rate hikes, some houses are moving to an auction "debt party" because they cannot afford to repay principal and interest.

Last year, the number of housing auctions nationwide was 94,600, up 37% from the previous year.
Unlike the
villa, the number of apartment auctions, which were considered 'safe assets', also jumped 35%.

Unlike the overflowing auction volume, the winning bid price rate for residential facilities last month was only 84.9% in Seoul and 77.4% in the country.

[Interview] Lee Ju-hyun/Ji Ji-Auction expert said, "This low successful bid price rate means that auction participants are very conservative in calculating the successful bid price because the real estate market is likely to continue to be bad."

In a situation where housing prices are difficult to predict due to the unstable political situation, both sellers and buyers have entered a "stop motion" state for now.

In Seoul, apartment prices have fluctuated slightly since the fourth quarter of last year, but the transaction volume, which has fallen by a third compared to last summer, suggests this phenomenon.

The buyer is burdened with buying a house with debt, and the seller is in a deadlock where he does not lower the price because he believes that if he crosses this crisis, the house price will rise.

This freeze is expected to last at least six months.

[Kim In-man / Kim In-man, Director of Real Estate Economics Institute: The problem is domestic political instability. This needs to be removed quickly. If there is fog, it should be removed quickly, but if it ends in March or April at the most as before and all this political uncertainty is removed in the first half of the year, I think it will be possible in the second half of the year.]

However, if political instability factors are not removed and are prolonged, there are concerns that a recession caused by fear may come in the second half of the year, not just a wait-and-see.

I'm Kim Ki-bong of YTN.