In Korean house construction industry, the customer-oriented house supply policy has been needed for the good quality of house supply while the government-oriented policies for mass supply has not been necessary any longer since the rate of house supp...
In Korean house construction industry, the customer-oriented house supply policy has been needed for the good quality of house supply while the government-oriented policies for mass supply has not been necessary any longer since the rate of house supply in 2002 exceeded 100%. Thus, the pre-construction sales system, which played the greatest role in raising funds for mass supply, is in the trend of changes according to the market change.
Under the pre-construction sales system, most of house construction companies could minimize their financing costs by directly raising funds from the house consumers by around 80% of the supply cost. While the consumers’ desires are getting higher and higher and the supply-oriented markets get changed into the consumer-oriented ones after the excessive achievement of the rate of house supply, the government is also leading the change of the house sales system, so called the post-construction sales system keeping pace with those changes.
According to the changes of the government policy and the environment for the house construction industry above mentioned, the small and middle sized house construction companies, which have relatively poor competitiveness - as well as the big-sized companies - should group some survival strategies to maintain their own competitiveness in order to survive. That is, the proposals for the continuous house supply should be found in the ways of preparing for the systematic countermeasures, raising the actual construction funds and dispersing the business risks properly for the continuous house supplies and the reductions of the market shocks.
Therefore, the fund-raising methods & sources of house construction companies and the changes in the house sales system were examined. Specifically speaking, considered the meaning of the post-construction sales system when it comes into effect, the meaning and system of Financing for House Construction and the proposals & time-line for and propagation effects of the gradual improvement of the house sales system, were examined. And the necessity, features, status and types of the fund-raising for house construction business according to the changes of the fund management were also examined.
Moreover, through the questionnaire survey targeting on some house construction companies, the application status of house sales system, the status of ‘the internal & external funds’ and ‘the direct or indirect financing of the house construction companies, the analysis of ‘the actual conditions for the fund raising’ and the analyses of ‘the strengths of the fund management’ and ‘the redemption terms’ during the project financing, the practical uses & risk management of the project financing and the practical uses of ‘National Housing Fund’ were also examined.
That is, it could be found that the preference to the pre-construction sales system was still high since the companies had a high percentage of loans from the financial institutions as major financing sources and most of the borrowed money was appropriated for their construction. The proposals to improve the understanding of construction businesses by the financial institutions and to solve the problems of the fund raising by giving securities were suggested as the countermeasures against the problems in doing their businesses due to the excessive demands for securities and the insufficient ‘line of credit’ when the companies borrow money from the financial institutions.
And since the concerns of the house construction companies in the project financing and their positive uses of the project financing - which is an actively developed item in the financial circles - are necessary, the strength of the project financing, such as the easy fund-raising, the fairness & trust of the business, etc. should be more improved in order for the financial institutions to exert their functions enough, the methods, which the small& middle sized companies can use the services smoothly, should be prepared and the problems, such as the distribution of risk and the securing of the transparency, should be solved and be much activated when the post-construction sales system is entirely enforced. Also, the reduction of the policy interest-rate, the increase of the ‘line of limits’, the easing of the loan terms and the simplification of the service procedures, etc were suggested in order for the private companies, especially the small& middle sized house construction companies as well as the public agencies for housing construction to have much easier uses of ‘the post-construction sales fund’, which was newly established in 2004 as the fund that supports the post-construction sales system, under the contents of the ‘National Housing Fund’, that is, the policy fund of the government. The problems according to the changes of the house sales system were raised as follows: the reduction of the supplied houses and the aggregated difficulties with the insufficient funds of the small & middle sized companies, the newly generated difficulties in raising the fund, the formalization of the project financing, the discriminating services against the small & middle sized companies, and the insufficient diversification of the fund-raising, etc.
Furthermore, as the proposals to modify those problems above mentioned, the fund-raising sources were suggested as follows: the extended supports for the private sectors from the ‘National Housing Fund’, the enlarged autonomy of the fund, the cultivation of the autogenesis power of the house construction companies, the reviewing of the company appraisal capacities of the financial institutions, the specialization & trust supplementation of the project financing methods, the fund activation, etc.
Therefore, the small & middle-sized house construction companies should prepare for the expected difficulties, which will be different from those of the big companies and be generated in the aspect of the fund-raising when the post-construction sales system is seriously enforced. First of all, the fund-raising sources should be diversified in order to progress the businesses smoothly. The reasonable terms should be made. And they should make the aggressive efforts from various viewpoints in order to utilize the ‘development financing funds’, such as project financing funds, real estate funds and the funds for assets mobilization, etc. In addition, the supplements for the government systems and taxation system should be made as well as enhancing the application of the policy funds.
Also, the financial institutions should play their subjective roles in the construction financing and relieve the financing problems of the small & middle sized house construction companies, not by the credit evaluation focusing on the outer sizes of the construction companies, but by considering the unique features of construction business after getting rid of the discredit against the construction business.
On the other hand, if the small & middle sized house construction companies pursue the changes in the house supply methods, for an example, ‘multi-products & small-sized production system’, in different directions from those of the big companies according to the changes of the construction business into more customer-oriented supply system, it may work for the small & middle sized house construction companies rather as an opportunity and it may be necessary for them to prepare for the countermeasures.
That is, the small & middle-sized house construction companies should make the efforts in order for them to supply houses and to create new demands by accepting the demands of the house customers positively and one step further, by catching hold of those demands in advance. And they have to develop their unique brands, which are appropriate to their own images, and should meet the consumers’ needs quickly through the fast decision-making processes. Also, they should strain their wits in order for them to survive as the eternally maintaining companies by utilizing their own strengths only.