Seoul House Prices Rise for 86th Consecutive Week Despite Declines in Gangnam and Yongsan

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Seoul apartment prices have risen for 86 consecutive weeks, setting a record for the longest rising streak in history. Due to the impact of tax law revisions, housing prices in the Gangnam 3 districts and Yongsan District are declining, but outer areas of Seoul are driving the upward trend.

This report is by Jeon Hyeong-u.

[Reporter]

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

The transaction price, which reached 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 revisions adding fuel to the fire, sellers now believe that selling out even by lowering prices is the best option for now.]

Following the Gangnam 3 districts, Yongsan District shifted to a decline for the first time in 22 weeks, continuing the weakness in high-priced apartments following the tax law revisions.

On the other hand, outer areas of Seoul, especially homes priced under 1.5 billion won where loans up to 600 million won are available, are still on the rise.

In Seodaemun District, an 84-square-meter apartment unit was traded for 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 purchasing demand. Sellers have sold what they wanted to sell and buyers have purchased to a certain extent, but both jeonse and wolse properties are relatively scarce.]

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

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

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

This broke the previous record of an 85-week upward streak that continued from June 2020, setting a new all-time high.

At that time, the cumulative increase rate was 7.7%, but during this current period, it reached 17.5%, meaning both the duration and the magnitude of the increase were greater.

[Nam Hyuk-woo / Woori Bank Real Estate Researcher: Because there is a thick cushion of pent-up demand from the younger 2030 generation of first-time homebuyers, the trend of price strength in mid-to-lower tier areas of Seoul and Gyeonggi-centric regions, known as cost-effective areas, is expected to continue for the time being.]

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

After President Lee Jae-myung emphasized housing supply the day before yesterday (the 29th), stating that "the fate of the country depends on it," the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport established a new division today dedicated to discovering and managing supply sites.

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