'Samsung and Hynix Employees Come to Look at Houses': Real Estate in Semiconductor Belt Rides Tailwinds

With housing prices in the southern Gyeonggi Province area—which is heavily influenced by the semiconductor industry—continuing to surge recently, attention is growing on whether the government will designate additional areas as regulated zones or land transaction permit zones.

This is because expectations for a semiconductor boom are rising amid the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, and massive performance bonuses received by employees of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix could translate into housing demand, driving up home prices.

Leading the charge is Dongtan-gu in Hwaseong.

According to the weekly apartment price trends as of June 8, released yesterday (June 11) by the Korea Real Estate Board, the weekly sale price of apartments in Dongtan-gu rose by 1.98 percent.

This means that in just one week, the rate of increase jumped by 1.38 percentage points, more than double the previous week's growth rate of 0.60 percent.

Considering that Hwaseong's annual apartment price increase last year was 2.16 percent, the district recorded a jump in a single week that is nearly equivalent to the entire previous year's gain.

Dongtan is a residential area from which employees can commute to major semiconductor workplaces, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. With a metropolitan transportation network centered around Dongtan Station, it is considered one of the areas in southern Gyeonggi Province with highly favorable living conditions.

Indeed, the housing demand from semiconductor company employees appears to be partly driving up prices.

"Many of the actual buyers are Samsung Electronics employees and SK Hynix employees who commute by shuttle bus, and there are also those who commute to Seoul because the Great Train eXpress (GTX) runs to Suseo," said a real estate agent operating near Dongtan Station. "Demand has increased, centered on end-users, and prices are definitely rising."

Another real estate agent also said, "Many end-users who need to commute to Seoul are visiting, and employees from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are also coming to look for homes. There are many buyers but few sellers, so there are almost no properties available."

According to Asil, a real estate big data firm, the number of apartments listed for sale in Dongtan-gu decreased by about 42 percent, from 6,503 on February 6—when statistics began to be compiled—to 3,767 as of today.

The actual transaction prices of some complexes have recently risen sharply in a short period.

An 84-square-meter exclusive-use unit on the 8th floor of Complex A near Dongtan Station was traded for 998 million won on May 22, but just 15 days later, on June 6, a 9th-floor unit in the same complex was contracted at 1.12 billion won, which is 122 million won higher.

Dongtan was excluded from last year's October 15 measures, which designated all of Seoul and 12 areas in Gyeonggi Province as regulated zones (adjustment-targeted areas and speculative-ridden districts) and land transaction permit zones, making it a place where gap investment (purchasing a home with an existing lease) is possible.

Pyeongtaek, which also holds expectations related to the semiconductor boom, saw its apartment prices turn upward this week with a 0.14 percent increase, after having been on a downward trend for two years and four months.

However, because the city has a severe accumulation of unsold homes, it remains to be seen whether it will enter a full-fledged upward trend.

Suji-gu in Yongin, which is also grouped as a residential area behind the semiconductor belt, has recorded a cumulative increase of 8.56 percent this year, ranking second nationwide after Dongan-gu in Anyang (8.80 percent).

Giheung-gu in Yongin, a non-regulated area, is also recording a cumulative increase of 5.66 percent this year, higher than Seoul's average of 4.22 percent.

Depending on the extent of housing price increases in some parts of the semiconductor belt that remain non-regulated, such as Dongtan and Giheung, the government may consider designating these areas as additional land transaction permit zones to stabilize the market and block gap investment.

"Residential areas behind the southern Gyeonggi region are showing strong price trends due to expectations of a booming semiconductor industry," said Nam Hyuk-woo, a researcher at the Woori Bank Real Estate Research Institute. "In Dongtan, even demand to buy homes in advance with existing leases in anticipation of future price hikes is joining in, while Giheung-gu and Suji-gu in Yongin are seeing their recent gains narrow but still remain at high levels."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.