The subscription market for reconstruction apartments in Seoul's Gangnam area has reached extreme levels of competition, with perfect-score subscription accounts and high scores in the 70s emerging in succession. Analysts say the "lottery subscription" pattern has become entrenched, given the structure in which buyers can expect tens of billions of won in gains compared with prevailing market prices.
According to the Korea Real Estate Board's subscription portal on Monday, winning scores for the first-priority general supply of "Hauteur Banpo" (the Shinbanpo 21st reconstruction project) in Jamwon-dong, Seocho-gu, mostly approached the maximum. The 44-square-meter unit recorded a high of 79 points and a low of 74 points — effectively the highest scores attainable by six-person and five-person households, respectively.
The unit drew 3,114 applicants for five units, a competition ratio of 622.8 to 1. Across all 12 unit types, the highest winning scores exceeded 70 points, while the lowest winning scores ranged from 69 to 74 points. The lowest score of 69 points for the 59-square-meter A, 97-square-meter, and 113-square-meter B types represents the maximum attainable score for a four-person household.
Subscription scores are calculated by summing points for the period without home ownership (up to 32 points), duration of subscription account membership (up to 17 points), and number of dependents (up to 35 points). A perfect score of 84 points requires maintaining no-homeowner status for at least 15 years while having at least six dependents.
Hauteur Banpo is a post-construction sale complex with four underground floors and 20 above-ground floors, comprising two buildings and a total of 251 units, with occupancy scheduled for July. Under the price ceiling system, the sale price for the 84-square-meter unit ranges from 2.5 billion to 2.75 billion won ($1.8 million to $2 million). Given that units of the same size in the nearby "Maple Xi" complex trade at 5 billion to 5.6 billion won, buyers can expect gains of up to 2 billion to 3 billion won.
The same pattern was confirmed earlier at "Acro de Seocho" in Seocho-gu, where the first perfect-score subscription of the year emerged. All winners for the two units offered in the 59-square-meter C type scored a perfect 84 points — the first such case this year.
Acro de Seocho drew 32,973 applicants for 30 units in its first-priority subscription, recording an average competition ratio of 1,099 to 1, the highest ever for a private apartment complex in Seoul. The complex was also subject to the price ceiling system, and its sale price set below market levels is cited as a key driver of the strong demand.
By unit type, the 59-square-meter A type, which saw high competition, showed a similar distribution of high scores — 79 points at the highest and 74 points at the lowest — as Hauteur Banpo. Winners with scores in the 50s emerged for some unit types, but these are seen as exceptional cases involving limited supply.
