Seoul Apartment Prices Rise for Record 86th Consecutive Week, Led by Homes Under 1.5 Billion Won

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Seoul apartment prices have risen for the 86th consecutive week, setting a record for the longest continuous upward streak in history. While housing prices in the Gangnam three districts and Yongsan-gu are falling due to the impact of tax law revisions, outer areas of Seoul are driving the overall increase.

Reporter Jeon Hyeong-u has the details.

[Reporter]

This is an apartment complex in Gaepo-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, which is slated for reconstruction.

The transaction price, which reached as high as 4 billion won in January of this year, dropped by 500 million to 800 million won as of last month.

[Gangnam-gu Real Estate Agent: With the tax law amendments adding fuel to the fire, sellers think it is best to lower their prices and sell off their properties now.]

Following the Gangnam three districts, Yongsan-gu also shifted to a downward trend for the first time in 22 weeks, marking a continuing weakness in high-priced apartments following the tax revisions.

On the other hand, homes in outer areas of Seoul, particularly those priced at 1.5 billion won or less eligible for loans of up to 600 million won, continue to rise.

An 84-square-meter unit at an apartment complex in Seodaemun-gu was traded at 1.5 billion won on September 18, up 130 million won from April.

[Park Hee-jung / Seodaemun-gu Real Estate Agent: Because this area has a good location, there was naturally purchase demand. Sellers have sold what they wanted to sell, and buyers have bought to a certain extent, but properties available for both jeonse (lump-sum housing deposits) and monthly rent are somewhat scarce.]

The weekly housing price growth rate was highest in Seodaemun-gu at 0.41% in Seoul, followed by Dongdaemun-gu at 0.36% and Nowon-gu at 0.34%.

Driven by the strength in outer areas, Seoul's apartment sales prices rose 0.09% week-on-week in the fourth week of September.

Prices have risen for 86 straight weeks starting from the first week of February last year.

This breaks the previous record of 85 weeks of consecutive increases that continued from June 2020, setting a new all-time record.

While the cumulative growth rate during that previous period was 7.7%, this current period recorded 17.5%, showing a larger magnitude as well as a longer duration of increase.

[Nam Hyuk-woo / Woori Bank Real Estate Researcher: Because there is still a thick layer of pent-up demand from the 2030 generation of first-time homebuyers, the price strength in mid-to-lower tier areas of Seoul known for cost-effectiveness, as well as parts of Gyeonggi Province, is expected to continue for a while.]

However, some outlooks suggest that further increases may not last long, considering that mortgage interest rates have risen significantly and the upward momentum in outer areas has also shown signs of narrowing.

After President Lee Jae-myung emphasized housing supply by stating that "the fate of the country depends on it," the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport established a new division dedicated to discovering and managing supply sites.

(Photo: Lim Woo-shik | Video Editing: Jung Yong-hwa)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.