Average Apartment Sale Price in Gangbuk Exceeds 10 Million KRW per Square Meter

14 Districts in Gangbuk, 25.4% Surge in One Year

Construction site of Dream Forest I-Park in Jangwi-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, scheduled for move-in at the end of this month. (Photo by Im On-yu)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] As the younger generation's 'panic buying' continues to drive up housing prices, the average sale price per square meter (exclusive area) of apartments in the northern part of Seoul has surpassed 10 million KRW.

According to KB Kookmin Bank's monthly housing price trend report on the 8th, the average sale price per square meter of apartments in 14 districts north of the Han River in Seoul was recorded at 10.013 million KRW last month. This is the first time the price has exceeded 10 million KRW.

Considering that the average price per square meter of apartments in the 14 northern districts was 7.982 million KRW as recently as November last year, this represents a 25.4% increase in one year. Compared to the 11 southern districts, where prices rose from 11.642 million KRW to 13.819 million KRW, an 18.7% increase during the same period, the rise in the northern area is notably steep. The apartment price increase rate in the northern area reaches 76.4% compared to May 2017, when the Moon Jae-in administration began, with prices at 5.678 million KRW.

Looking at each autonomous district, Seongbuk-gu showed the highest increase rate, rising 32.8% from 7.206 million KRW in November last year to 9.567 million KRW last month. Nowon-gu (32.4%), Gangbuk-gu (29.4%), and Dongdaemun-gu (28.8%) followed, with all four northern districts ranking 1st to 4th in growth. The 5th place was taken by Guro-gu (27.7%), an outer district in the Gangnam area.

On the other hand, Seocho-gu (12.2%) showed the lowest increase rate, and areas that had previously driven house price rises, such as Yongsan-gu (13.3%), Jongno-gu (13.8%), Gangnam-gu (15.0%), and Songpa-gu (18.9%), showed relatively lower growth rates.

Industry experts analyze that the rapid rise in housing prices due to the government's successive regulations has led to a buying spree focused on mid-to-low priced apartments in the northern area. Although the average sale price of medium-small apartments (over 60㎡ to 85㎡ or less) in Seoul surpassed the 'high-priced housing' threshold of 900 million KRW for the first time last month at 907.29 million KRW, the northern area remains at about 780.62 million KRW. The average sale price of small apartments (60㎡ or less) in the northern area is still 527.53 million KRW.

However, with concentrated buying demand, small apartments showed the steepest price increase. The average sale price of small apartments in the northern area rose 30.9%, from 402.89 million KRW in November last year to 527.53 million KRW last month. This is a steeper increase compared to medium-small (27.2%) and medium-large (22.6%) apartments.