[비즈한국] Apartment names in Seoul constructed by major builders have been found to be shorter than they were three years ago. There is an increasing number of complexes that prioritize concise names rather than appending multiple modifiers to location names and construction brands. This trend is interpreted as being driven by a focus on selective order-taking in prime locations and the expanded application of high-end residential brands. However, the practice of naming complexes based on foreign words persists.
According to an analysis by Bizhankook of housing subscription data from the Korea Real Estate Board's "Apply Home," the average length of complex names for private apartment offerings in Seoul where the top 10 construction firms participated as contractors decreased by 2.53 characters (26.5%), from 9.53 characters in 2023 to 7 characters this year. This comparison is based on 17 tenant recruitment announcements from 2023 and 16 announcements made between January 1 and October 9 of this year. The length of the complex names was calculated excluding spaces, and announcements for reserved lots and cancelled union member units were included in the count.
This year, all names of private apartments in Seoul built by the top 10 construction firms were 9 characters or fewer. "Summit The Hill" and "Ichon Le-El" were the shortest at 4 characters each, while "Define Yeonhui" (5 characters) and "Acro De Seocho" (6 characters) also used concise names. In contrast, in 2023, 8 out of 17 apartment offerings in Seoul had names with 10 or more characters. Notable examples included "e-Pyeonhansesang Gangdong Prestige One" (13 characters), "Seoul National University Venture Town Station Prugio" (12 characters), and "Cheongnyangni Lotte Castle Highluce" (11 characters).
The expansion of high-end residential brand usage appears to have influenced this change. Out of 16 apartment offerings in Seoul this year, 9 (56.3%) included high-end brands such as Daewoo E&C's "Summit," DL E&C's "Acro," Lotte E&C's "Le-El," POSCO E&C's "Ohthere," and SK Eco Plant's "Define." These brands did not appear in the 2023 Seoul offerings. The average name length for the 9 offerings using these brands this year was 6.11 characters, which was shorter than the 8.14 characters for the remaining 7 offerings.
The construction industry's trend of selective order-taking is also a noteworthy background factor. Recently, major construction firms have been focusing on taking orders for redevelopment projects with high business potential in response to rising construction costs and deteriorating profitability. The interpretation is that since prime locations in Seoul and the high-end residential brands themselves serve as points of differentiation, the product value can be emphasized without the need for long modifiers. In fact, the Macheon 5th District in Songpa-gu, Seoul, included the application of a high-end brand as a condition for participation in its contractor selection bid this past June.
Meanwhile, there was no significant change in the length of complex names nationwide. The average name length for private apartment offerings involving the top 10 construction firms remained virtually the same, at 9.55 characters from January to October 9, 2023, and 9.57 characters during the same period this year. Unlike Seoul, the length slightly increased in Gyeonggi and Incheon from 9.72 to 10.41 characters, and in non-capital regions from 9.52 to 9.95 characters. This indicates that differences emerged depending on the composition of housing projects by region.
The use of pure Korean words was limited. Among the 87 private apartment offerings nationwide involving the top 10 construction firms this year, no complex names using pure Korean words (excluding brands and location names) were identified. There were many cases where complex names simply combined Sino-Korean location names with brands, such as "Ichon Le-El" and "Ohthere Banpo," or appended foreign words that evoke the location or residential environment, such as "Acro River Sky" and "Hangang Prugio Riverfront."
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has been recommending the simplification of apartment names. In February 2024, it published a "Guide to Newly Naming Apartment Complexes," urging a reduction in the use of foreign words and unnecessary nicknames. According to Real Estate Info, the length of apartment names nationwide increased from an average of 4.2 characters in the 1990s to 9.84 characters in 2019. In a citizen survey conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 2022, 77% of respondents stated that they find apartment names to be too long and complicated.