New Construction Sparks Interest... Eyes on Gangnam Area Reserved Land Sales

Archive photo / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] As the popularity of newly built apartments continues to soar, attention is also being drawn to the sale of reserved lots in redevelopment projects in the Gangnam area of Seoul.

According to the redevelopment industry on the 5th, the Songpa-gu Pungnap Woosung Apartment Housing Reconstruction Redevelopment Association recently announced the sale of one reserved lot and opened it for public bidding. The unit is 75.99㎡ (18th floor), with a minimum bid price set at 1.55 billion KRW.

Reserved lots are units that the association keeps as extras without general sale. The minimum bid price is usually set at a level similar to the market price. The Pungnap Woosung reserved lot released this time also saw apartments of the same size traded at 1.55 billion KRW (11th floor) in November last year and 1.54 billion KRW (21st floor) last month. Anyone aged 19 or older can bid on reserved lots regardless of subscription savings account membership or home ownership. However, since the market price exceeds 1.5 billion KRW, mortgage loans are not available, which is a hurdle.

This complex, reconstructed into Jamsil Olympic Park I-Park and completed in November last year, consists of 7 buildings with 697 households, ranging from 3 basement floors to 35 floors above ground. The apartments range from 51 to 109㎡ in exclusive area. Nearby are Olympic Park, Asan Medical Center, Pungseong Elementary, Pungseong Middle, and Pungnap Middle Schools. The Gangdong-gu Office Station on Seoul Subway Line 8 is close by.

Earlier in February, the Helio City reserved lot (84㎡) in Garak-dong, Songpa-gu, which came onto the market, was once failed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but found a new owner after re-bidding. At that time, the apartment’s sale price was 1.75 billion KRW, and the current market price is reported to be around 1.66 to 1.78 billion KRW.

An industry insider said, "Although reserved lots are sold at market price levels, given the increasing rarity of newly built apartments recently, they are worth investing in from a mid- to long-term perspective." According to Real Estate 114, the average sale price per household for newly built apartments in Seoul that have been occupied for less than 5 years is 1.38743 billion KRW. This is about 500 million KRW higher than older apartments over 10 years old (916.42 million KRW). The district with the highest average price for newly built apartments is Seocho-gu at 2.57286 billion KRW, followed by Gangnam-gu (2.31464 billion KRW), Yongsan-gu (1.83651 billion KRW), and Songpa-gu, where Jamsil Olympic Park I-Park is located, at around 1.59804 billion KRW.