Excessive vacant housing (VH) has been often linked to negative externalities (e.g., crime, arson, property devaluation, or disconnected neighborhoods). As a result, governments and communities invest many resources toward limiting amounts of VH. While the VH literature has increased, VH studies are relatively new in South Korea. In this regard, this study explores the spatial discrepancy and determinants of VH across 141 cities in South Korea by using cluster analysis and quantile regression. The empirical analyses suggest that municipalities experiencing aging, fewer manufacturing jobs, sprawled old and small housing stock, new housing supply, and higher taxes may be more at risk for future increases in VH ratios. The impacts of these factors were not significant across the municipalities with different levels of VH. The aging population is the most powerful explanatory variable, in general, and is the only influential factor that explains the cities with excessive VH ratio. The outcomes suggest that the policy interventions should vary depending on the level of VH and the location and size of the city their related determinants. Further, VH inventory and demographic change monitorization, provisions for encouraging more youthful residents, and readjustment of space and economic structure are also necessary to combat excessive VH.

过多的空置住房 (VH) 通常与负面的外部性（例如，犯罪、纵火、财产贬值或与社区脱节）有关。因此，政府和社区投入了大量资源来限制 VH 的数量。虽然 VH 文献有所增加，但 VH 研究在韩国相对较新。在这方面，本研究通过使用聚类分析和分位数回归探讨了韩国 141 个城市 VH 的空间差异和决定因素。实证分析表明，经历老龄化、制造业就业机会减少、老旧和小型住房存量扩张、新住房供应和税收增加的市政当局可能更有可能面临未来 VH 比率上升的风险。这些因素的影响在具有不同 VH 水平的城市中并不显着。总体而言，人口老龄化是最有力的解释变量，也是解释VH比率过高城市的唯一影响因素。结果表明，政策干预应根据 VH 水平以及城市的位置和规模及其相关决定因素而有所不同。此外，VH 清单和人口变化监测、鼓励更多年轻居民的规定以及空间和经济结构的调整对于打击过度的 VH 也是必要的。