Up to 1 Billion Above, Down to 100 Million Below... Extreme Polarization in Apartment Prices

Top 20% Transaction Prices Surpass 1 Billion Won
Bottom 20% Remain in 100 Million Won Range for 8 Years

A residential area in Seoul with an apartment complex visible in the background

The sale price of apartments in the top 20% nationwide has surpassed 1 billion KRW for the first time ever. Although the recent upward trend in housing prices has slowed, the polarization in the real estate market appears to be worsening.

According to the KB Housing Price Trend time series data provided by KB Kookmin Bank's LiivOn on the 5th, the sale price of apartments in the top 20% nationwide in March was recorded at 1,015,880,000 KRW.

This represents a significant increase of 27.98% (222,160,000 KRW) compared to 793,720,000 KRW in the same month last year.

On the other hand, the sale price of apartments in the bottom 20% was recorded at 115,990,000 KRW in the same month. Since first exceeding 100 million KRW in April 2013, it has remained around the 100 million KRW mark for eight years.

The 5th quintile ratio, which indicates the price gap between the top 20% (5th quintile) and the bottom 20% (1st quintile) nationwide, was recorded at 8.8, the highest since the survey began. The 5th quintile ratio increases as the price gap widens.

Meanwhile, the rate of increase in housing prices is somewhat easing. According to the monthly KB Housing Market Trend data from last month, the housing sale price in Seoul rose by 0.96% in March, a smaller increase compared to 1.14% in the previous month.

The housing price increase rate in Seoul peaked at 1.66% in November last year, then slightly decreased to 1.24% in December, rose again slightly to 1.27% in January this year, and then declined for two consecutive months to 1.14% and 0.96% in February and March, respectively.