Sales of Seoul homes completed within the previous five years fell 73.2% over five years as buyers continued to shun villas after a wave of jeonse deposit fraud. An analysis by The Seoul Economic Daily of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price system, released on the 19th, found that only 3,191 of 24,651 low-rise multi-unit home sales from January through July this year involved near-new homes, a 12.9% share. In the same period of 2021, such homes accounted for 11,887 of 38,055 sales, or 31.2%. The government plans to support construction of 130,000 general housing units in the greater Seoul area by 2030 through its August 13 supply package, including relaxed rules and expanded financing. However, tighter eligibility for jeonse deposit guarantees, higher construction and financing costs, and weak buyer confidence have undermined the previous development model. Experts say supply deregulation may not be enough and have called for stronger financial and pricing structures, public-sector purchase-and-lease programs, and agreements to buy newly built units. Shin Bo-yeon, a professor in the Department of Real Estate and AI Convergence at Sejong University, said a structural recovery requires permanent tax incentives, a secured demand base and a shift toward monthly-rent-based income property.