[Sportschosun Reporter Lee Woo-joo] Backlash is mounting after reports said IVE's An Yu-jin won a housing lottery for The H Bangbae, a move that could bring an estimated 1.8 billion won in capital gains.
On the 10th, Maeil Business Newspaper reported that An Yu-jin had won the lottery for the general sale of The H Bangbae, a reconstructed apartment complex in Bangbae-dong, Seocho District, Seoul, where residents are scheduled to move in this September. According to the report, about 215 units in the complex were allocated through a lottery system, and some units by floor area were assigned that way in speculative overheated zones such as the three Gangnam districts and Yongsan District. The housing market reportedly believes An Yu-jin won one of those lottery-allocated units.
The sale prices for The H Bangbae, which began offering units in August 2024, were set at up to 1.7025 billion won for 59 square meters, 2.243 billion won for 84 square meters, 2.5 billion won for 101 square meters, and 2.762 billion won for 114 square meters. The current asking price for the 84-square-meter unit is around 4 billion won, meaning that if An Yu-jin won that size, the expected price gap would be about 1.8 billion won.
However, it has not been confirmed whether An Yu-jin will actually move in or which unit size she won. Her agency also declined to comment, saying, "It is a personal matter, so it is difficult to confirm."
Still, the report sparked criticism online. Some argued that a person known to have the financial means to buy property without a loan should not have entered the housing lottery, saying it could leave ordinary people feeling relatively deprived. Some even said An Yu-jin should give up the winning opportunity.
Others, however, disagreed. Some netizens defended her, saying, "Would giving it up make it possible to buy?" "She only won through a lawful process," and "Even if ordinary people won that home, they still couldn't afford it."
wjlee@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
