South Korea Financial Services Commission publishes first regular housing supply briefing, reports more than 99,000 Seoul metropolitan area starts

The South Korea Financial Services Commission published a joint government update launching twice-monthly briefings on housing starts, sales and occupancy as part of the implementation framework for the Aug. 13 housing supply package. More than 99,000 homes had started construction in the Seoul metropolitan area by the second week of October, against a 2026 target of 268,000, and the government forecasts at least 218,000 to 235,000 starts by year-end. It also plans to recruit occupants for more than 15,000 public sale and rental homes by year-end and deliver about 100,000 publicly supported homes in the region from the fourth quarter of 2026 through the end of 2027. Financial measures remain central to removing supply bottlenecks. The Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service have assigned dedicated officers to about 300 residential project finance sites for tailored support. By year-end, the government plans to consolidate housing permitting, regulatory and financing assistance into an integrated housing supply support center, building on the financial difficulty centers and project finance support measures introduced after the August package. Of the package’s 145 implementation tasks, 48 have been completed. Financial actions include raising guarantee coverage for residential projects to 100%, exempting relocation and related loans from aggregate lending controls, strengthening financing for housing sales and rental businesses, and revising guarantee requirements for quasi-housing projects. A digital dashboard will also provide consolidated information on supply plans, performance and public sale and rental schedules.