[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] The tug-of-war between buyers and sellers in the Seoul apartment market continues, deepening the 'transaction cliff' situation.
According to the Seoul Real Estate Information Plaza on the 26th, 1,097 apartment sales in Seoul were reported up to that day in February.
The volume of apartment transactions in Seoul peaked at 16,603 in June last year, then sharply dropped from 10,644 in July to 3,697 in September due to the impact of the June 17 and July 10 measures. After that, it rose again to 4,376 in October and 7,514 in December last year, then decreased to 5,567 last month, and transactions have significantly declined again this month.
Since the reporting period for transactions (30 days) remains, the transaction volume for January and February is expected to increase somewhat. However, it is likely that January will be around 6,000 cases and February around 3,000 cases.
Because it is common for prices to rise when housing transaction volumes increase significantly and for prices to adjust in the opposite case, there are forecasts that Seoul housing prices have entered an adjustment phase.
Recently, listings have also been gradually accumulating. According to the real estate big data company 'Asil' (Apartment Real Transaction Price), as of this day, the number of apartment listings (for sale) in Seoul was 41,081, an 8.6% increase compared to 39,721 ten days earlier. The Gangnam 3 districts (Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa), which lead the Seoul real estate market atmosphere, also saw listings rise by 4.4%, from 10,779 to 11,249 during the same period.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) Real Transaction Price Disclosure System, while record-high transactions are noticeable in this area, transactions with prices lowered by tens of millions to over 100 million KRW compared to previous peaks have also been confirmed.
In Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Misung 2nd Complex with an exclusive area of 74.4㎡ recorded a new high price by being traded at 2.495 billion KRW on the 1st of this month. For Apgujeong Hyundai 6th Complex with an exclusive area of 196.7㎡, after no transactions since the record high of 4.8 billion KRW in July last year, it was traded at 5.45 billion KRW (6th floor) on the 22nd, rising by 650 million KRW after seven months.
On the other hand, Banpo Xi 84.94㎡ in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, which was traded at a record high of 3.1 billion KRW (8th floor) last month, saw two contracts this month at 2.95 billion KRW (22nd floor) on the 3rd and 2.8 billion KRW (11th floor) on the 6th, dropping by 150 million to 300 million KRW compared to the highest price within a month.
It has also been confirmed that buying demand is flowing into areas with many mid-to-low-priced apartments, so-called 'Geum-Gwan-Gu' (Geumcheon, Gwanak, Guro districts).
Attention is focused on whether the government's plan to increase supply by revitalizing urban redevelopment projects through the 2·4 measures and creating 70,000 housing units in new towns such as Seoul, Gwangmyeong, and Siheung will be able to pull down Seoul housing prices.
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