The Korean housing market in the mid- to long-term is expected to require a variety of products depending on customer needs, making it necessary to discover new businesses that can sustain growth. At the '2012 Housing Market Outlook Seminar' held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul on December 5, 2012, Lee Sang-ho, director of GS Research Institute for Construction Economics, said in a presentation titled 'Changes in Housing Demand and Search for New Growth Engines' that the search for new growth businesses in the domestic housing market should focus on cross-industry linkages, taking into account changes in market conditions and synergies.

Currently, the construction market is a mature market that has left the growth stage. The growth rate of real construction investment in Korea has declined by 10 percent in the last decade, from 11.4 percent in 1975-1997 to 0.7 percent in 2003-2009. In addition, the order intake of domestic general contractors has been declining since its peak in 2007.

Housing orders have averaged KRW 40.6 trillion per year over the past decade. Since 2010, it has been stagnating in the 30 trillion won range, and there is a possibility that it may contract further than initially expected due to the slowdown in the maintenance business. At the same time, the housing supply rate is already 101.9% on average, and the self-ownership rate is 61.3% on average, so it is necessary to recognize that the domestic construction market has entered a mature stage.

According to Statistics Korea, despite the decline in self-occupancy, the proportion of people aged 25 to 64 has increased slightly, especially those aged 25 to 44, who are playing a key role as homebuyers and are gradually shifting from single-family houses to apartments. In addition, the proportion of single-person households continues to increase, as in Japan and the United States, and one- to two-person households are expected to expand to 60% of the total.

Due to changes in the social environment, such as the declining population, elderly people, one- and two-person households, and the rise of "no kids," silver housing and energy-saving housing are popular, and the construction industry will need to find new products to meet the growing demand for apartments with eco-friendly and smart features. "The items that can be discovered can be divided into market-customer segmentation, relationship value expansion, and value chain expansion, including modularized housing, light steel housing, etc. in physical terms, and material distribution franchise business, development consulting, and asset management in value terms," Lee said.

By 2030, the global urbanization rate is expected to reach 58%, and the urban population in emerging countries is expected to grow by about 60 million people per year, reaching 3.9 billion by 2030, accounting for 46% of the world's population. "The housing market dominated by local players is expected to expand the entry of global players with soft capabilities such as planning, management, and finance due to the large scale and urgency of the required supply and the burden of financing," Lee said.

Meanwhile, the 2012 Housing Market Outlook Seminar was moderated by Professor Lee Yong-man of Hansung University, and two topics were presented, including ▲ Housing Market Transformation and Housing Policy Direction: Park Deok-bae, Research Fellow at the Hyundai Research Institute ▲ Changes in Housing Demand and Search for New Growth Engines: Lee Sang-ho, Director of GS Construction Economics Research Institute Afterward, a panel of five experts, including Kim Sun-duk, Director of the Construction Industry Strategy Research Institute, Kim Ho-cheol, Professor at Dankook University, Park Won-gap, Chief Real Estate Team Leader at the Kookmin Bank, Song Hyun-dam, Head of the Korea Home Builders Association, and Yoo Sung-yong, Head of Housing Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, held a designated discussion and Q&A session.