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As apartment prices in Seoul continue to rise at an accelerating pace, buying interest is spreading to non-regulated areas in the Seoul metropolitan region. Following Hwaseong's Dongtan, which recorded the highest growth rate in the country, the upward trend is now expanding to Yongin's Giheung district, a key hub in the semiconductor industrial belt.

Reporter Lee Seonghun has the story.

[Reporter]

This is an apartment complex near Guseong Station in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

Located adjacent to Hwaseong's Dongtan, where housing prices have recently surged, the area is seeing a steady stream of purchase inquiries fueled by expectations surrounding the opening of the GTX (Great Train eXpress) and the development of the semiconductor industrial belt.

[Hong Sun-beom / Real Estate Agent in Giheung-gu, Yongin: People who visit Dongtan and see how much prices have risen seem to be looking into this area, preferring locations that are relatively more affordable and have seen less of a price hike.]

Apartment prices in Seoul rose by 0.3% this week, marking a larger increase than the previous week.

This upward trend in Seoul is now spreading to non-regulated areas in the metropolitan region.

Dongtan recorded a 1.65% increase, the highest growth rate in the country, and its cumulative rise for this year reached 11.38%, making it the first city, county, or district in the nation to hit double-digit growth.

Giheung, Yeongtong, and Guri also showed strong performance.

The trading volume of apartments in major non-regulated areas of the metropolitan region during the first half of this year increased by 64.8% compared to the same period last year.

Experts believe that demand is shifting as the burden of entering regulated areas becomes too high.

[Ham Young-jin / Head of Real Estate Research Lab at Woori Bank: A 'balloon effect' is occurring in areas that have good accessibility to Seoul or are subject to relatively lower regulatory intensity, attracting both end-users and investors. Both trading volume and prices are on the rise.]

Market expectations that housing prices will continue to climb are also growing.

The Bank of Korea's Housing Price Outlook Index for June stood at 120, the highest level in five months.

With most properties from multi-home owners already absorbed and a persistent shortage of jeonse (long-term deposit rental) listings, Seoul's apartment jeonse prices rose by 0.35%, the highest rate in 12 years and 8 months.

While the government is emphasizing the expansion of housing supply, experts predict that upward pressure will continue across the overall market, including both sales and rentals, until actual move-in volumes become visible.

(Video reporting: Lee Byeong-ju | Video editing: Jo Mu-hwan)