The Effect of Green Characteristics in Reducing the Inventory of Unsold Housing in New Residential Developments—A Case of Gyeonggi Province, in South Korea

Abstract

This study analyzes the effect of green characteristics on sales of unsold housing stock, using a multilevel growth model, in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea from 2012 to 2018. The green characteristics we estimated are external factors such as the proximity to urban parks and mountain trails located outside the housing complex and internal factors such as whether the area of communal open space within the complex exceeds a certain percentage. The results suggest that potential home-buyers are interested in green space inside rather than outside a housing complex in a suburban setting. Housing complexes with large enough communal open spaces had a 0.094 higher unsold unit ratio than complexes with small communal open spaces, but the surplus decreased more rapidly; the ratio declines by 0.028 per time unit. On the other hand, the results show no statistically significant effects of the distance to external green areas. This might be due to that public urban parks might not be an attraction to residents when forests and/or agricultural fields are in close proximity. The findings of this research will be utilized by construction companies and public institutions holding unsold units in improving their sales performance, not only in South Korea but also in other Asian regions showing a similar housing development pattern.