- Special measures aimed at helping homeowners sell their existing homes if they are not able to move into a new apartment because their existing home has not sold

On May 2, 2010, Housing Finance (KHFC, CEO Joo-jae Lim) announced that it would enforce from May 7, 2010 special measures to help the smooth move-in of homebuyers into new apartments as a follow-up to the “Measures to relieve unsold apartments and vitalize their sale” announced on April 23, 2010.  

The key of the special measures is to guarantee credit to be taken in excess of the DTI (debt-to-income ratio) limit within the supervisory LTV (loan-to-value ratio) limits for those who buy a home but cannot move into their newly purchased apartment because they are unable to sell their existing home. The DTI restriction of the Financial Supervisory Service applies to apartments located in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi-do areas. 

To be eligible, those purchasing a home from an existing homeowner must have an annual income of 10 million won or more (including the income of the spouse) and own one or no home under his/her or spouse’s name; a homeowner must sign a commitment to dispose of the currently owned home within two years from the date of the credit. Also, the purchased home must be an apartment 85㎡ or smaller in size in the metropolitan area excluding any speculative districts (three districts in Gangnam area) with a value of 600 million won or less. 

“If you need to sell your existing home to move into a newly purchased apartment and your existing home meets the requirements, inform your real estate broker that your existing home is eligible for DTI preferential treatment. This will help you to sell your existing home,” said an official of KHFC.