Goyang Changneung pre-sale winners demand promised low interest rates, not just 80% LTV

The government said it will maintain as planned a dedicated mortgage support program promised to pre-sale subscription winners at the Goyang Changneung S3 block. However, the interest rate and loan term have yet to be finalized, and controversy among winners is expected to continue.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Tuesday in a statement that it "plans to provide pre-sale subscription winners with a dedicated Housing Urban Fund mortgage of up to 500 million won ($326,000), without applying the income criteria or housing price requirements of the standard Didimdol loan, exactly as originally promised." The loan carries a loan-to-value ratio of 80% and is exempt from the debt service ratio regulation.

The clarification came after the full subscription announcement for the Goyang Changneung S3 block omitted the dedicated mortgage support advertised at the pre-sale stage and listed the interim payment group loan as undecided, triggering a backlash. Some pre-sale winners had argued that being directed to a standard Didimdol loan instead of the dedicated mortgage at the full subscription stage amounted to a de facto rollback of the financing terms.

Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) had originally presented a "dedicated home mortgage for shared-type pre-sale housing" as the loan product available to Goyang Changneung S3 block residents. The terms outlined in the pre-sale prospectus set a maximum loan of 500 million won with a repayment period of up to 40 years, a loan-to-value ratio of up to 80%, and an annual interest rate of 1.9–3.0%.

However, the actual interest rate and repayment period will follow the Didimdol loan standards in effect at the time of application. That leaves open the possibility that the final terms will differ from what winners expected when they applied, depending on market interest rate movements and changes to policy loan conditions.

The interim payment group loan will proceed on the original schedule. The first interim payment for the Goyang Changneung S3 block is due in May next year. The ministry said it plans to conclude a group loan agreement with commercial banks in the first quarter of next year and will notify contract holders of the details as soon as the agreement is finalized. LH typically signs group loan agreements with commercial banks three to four months before an interim payment deadline.

Winners say they applied trusting the long-term, low-interest dedicated mortgage advertised at the pre-sale stage, and are demanding that the government and LH honor the original terms. They have particularly taken issue with the fact that the interest rate and repayment period — which determine the actual financial burden more than the loan ceiling — remain unconfirmed.

The ministry and LH maintain that even at the pre-sale stage, applicants were informed that specific conditions such as the interest rate could change depending on market conditions. Still, the failure to communicate that clearly to winners before the full subscription announcement deepened the confusion.