Despite Pledges to Crack Down, Expressway Rest Stop Prices Remain High

[Anchor]

It is time for our Friendly Economy segment with reporter Han Jiyeon. Han, today, you are talking about prices at highway rest stops.

[Reporter]

Compared to five years ago, pork cutlet prices have risen the most.

The average price of bibimbap now exceeds 10,000 won.

When taking long trips during holidays, stopping by rest stops is one of the small joys of the journey.

However, it now makes you wonder if you should just use the restroom and leave.

The price of rest stop pork cutlets has surged by more than a quarter over the past five years.

It used to be around 9,000 won, but now it is in the 11,000 won range.

Walnut pastries and Americanos have also increased by around 20 percent each, bringing both close to or exceeding 5,000 won.

Similarly, bibimbap rose by more than 18 percent, breaking the 10,000 won mark for the first time.

Rice cake skewers, gukbap, hot dogs, udon, and caffe lattes have all seen double-digit increases, while instant ramen managed to hold its ground with just a 7 percent rise.

Yet, despite these price hikes, the best-selling item remains the Americano.

It seems stopping by a rest stop for a caffeine fix when sleepy behind the wheel is practically an unwritten rule.

Looking back at this year Lunar New Year holiday alone, the Americano was both the top-selling item and the biggest revenue generator at rest stops.

It outperformed snacks, ramen, and walnut pastries alike.

During the Lunar New Year holiday this year, 626,000 cups were sold, bringing in sales totaling 2.96 billion won.

Among the rest stops, Deokpyeong on the Yeongdong Expressway and Haengdamdo on the Seohaean Expressway are the top two in sales.

For reference, Deokpyeong is well known for its beef soup with rice (sogogi-gukbap), while Haengdamdo gained fame for sotteok-sotteok (skewered rice cakes and sausages) after being introduced by comedian Lee Young-ja.

[Anchor]

Perhaps because of this, many people say they tend not to buy things at rest stops anymore.

[Reporter]

That is correct. Two months ago, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it would overhaul the system, but consumers are not feeling any change at all.

In particular, Americanos still hover in the 4,000 won range.

Two months ago, the ministry pointed to the multi-layered intermediate structure involving the Korea Expressway Corporation, intermediate operators, and tenant stores as the real reason rest stop prices were so high.

In reality, tenant stores have been paying commissions ranging from an average of 33 percent to as high as 51 percent of their sales.

To fix this, the ministry announced plans to eliminate this structure to lower the burden on tenant stores to the 8 to 9 percent range of sales, and to sell Americanos for under 2,000 won.

However, the average price reported for August was still 4,845 won.

Why is that? The restructuring is only being applied to just 8 rest stops this year, and since the new system will not take effect until December, most rest stops are still operating under the old structure.

Therefore, consumers can hardly expect any price-cut effects during this Chuseok holiday either.

[Anchor]

The last topic is about Seoul apartment jeonse (lump-sum deposit) prices.

[Reporter]

Jeonse prices for standard-sized apartments are now surpassing 1 billion won in eastern Seoul, rather than just in Gangnam.

Data from the Korea Real Estate Board shows that Seoul apartment jeonse prices have risen by nearly 8 percent just this year.

During the same period last year, the increase was 1.66 percent, meaning this year jump is about 4.7 times higher.

This marks the steepest increase since 2015, a period marked by severe jeonse shortages.

The real problem, however, is that this trend is spreading beyond Gangnam and the Han River areas to neighborhoods that were traditionally relatively affordable, such as Seongbuk, Dongdaemun, and Gangbuk.

This trend is particularly pronounced for standard-sized units with a dedicated area of 84 square meters, commonly referred to as gukpyeong (national standard size), which translates to about 34 pyeong.

For example, an apartment in Gireum-dong, Seongbuk-gu, was contracted for a jeonse price of 1.1 billion won on September 15.

Meanwhile, asking prices for an apartment in Mia-dong, Gangbuk-gu, climbed up to 1.2 billion won, up from 950 million won just three months ago.

In Cheongnyangni, Dongdaemun-gu, a contract was signed at 1 billion won at the end of last month, jumping by nearly 200 million won compared to last year.

Transactions surpassing 900 million won are also emerging in Nowon-gu on September 11.

The primary driver behind these soaring jeonse prices is a sharp decline in new apartment completions and move-in supplies across Seoul and the capital region since 2015, as new construction slowed down starting in 2022.

In fact, available jeonse listings in Seoul have dropped by more than 12 percent compared to a year ago.

What is even more concerning is that from the second half of this year through the first half of next year, approximately 28,000 households are scheduled to successively relocate for redevelopment and reconstruction projects in major Seoul complexes, such as Eunma Apartment in Gangnam and Gaepo Jugong.

Among them, nearly 35 percent—about 9,700 households—are concentrated in the three Gangnam districts.

With this relocation demand pouring into an already scarce jeonse market, the upward trend in jeonse prices is expected to be difficult to curb for the time being.

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