SEOUL, April 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of unsold new homes in South Korea has reached the highest level in 11 years and five months, data showed Sunday, due mainly to weak demand for new homes in provincial regions.
There were 23,722 unsold new apartments nationwide as of the end of February, doubling from 11,855 tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
It marked the highest level since South Korea saw 24,667 unsold new homes in September 2013.
About 8 out of 10 unsold new homes were located outside of Seoul, with the most located in Daegu, followed by North and South Gyeongsang provinces, according to the tally.
In contrast, there were only 652 unsold new homes in Seoul.
In February, the government announced a plan to buy unsold new homes and use them for public rental housing, which marked the first such purchase since 2010.
(Yonhap)