"More Than Half of Apartments Under 600 Million Won in Seoul Disappeared Since Moon Administration Inauguration"

Decrease in Apartments Below 600 Million Won and Increase in Those Above 900 Million Won
Gangnam Area Sees Rise in Apartments Exceeding 1.5 Billion Won

(Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jae-won] Since the launch of the Moon Jae-in administration, apartments in Seoul priced below 600 million KRW have disappeared by more than half, while apartments priced above 900 million KRW have more than doubled.

Kim Sang-hoon, a member of the People Power Party, announced on the 21st that an analysis of the Seoul apartment sales price status by the Korea Real Estate Board showed that the proportion of apartments priced below 600 million KRW in Seoul was 67.3% in May 2017 when the current government took office, but sharply dropped to 29.4% in June this year.

The proportion of apartments priced over 900 million KRW increased about 2.5 times from 15.7% three years ago to 39.8%. The share of ultra-high-priced apartments exceeding 1.5 billion KRW also rose from 3.9% to 15.2% during the same period.

Kim’s office explained, "During the three years of the current government, apartments accessible to actual buyers have significantly decreased," adding, "Even existing houses have risen in price to the point where ordinary citizens can hardly afford them."

Among autonomous districts, Gangdong-gu saw the largest drop in the proportion of apartments priced below 600 million KRW, plummeting from 74.9% to 8.9%. Apartments priced over 900 million KRW in Gangdong-gu surged from 0.4% to 49.0%.

In Seongbuk-gu, apartments priced below 600 million KRW decreased from 97.0% to 33.6%, while in Dongdaemun-gu it shrank from 88.9% to 26.0%, and in Seodaemun-gu from 88.6% to 26.5%.

In the Gangnam area, known for many high-priced homes, apartments priced over 1.5 billion KRW increased significantly. In Gangnam-gu, the proportion of apartments over 1.5 billion KRW was 26.8% at the start of the current government but has now risen to 73.5%. Seocho-gu also increased from 22.4% to 67.2%, and Songpa-gu from 5.3% to 43.1%.