Cheongna International City Heats Up This Fall... Record-Breaking Housing Market Opens

High Residential Preference but No New Sales Since 2017... Last Year House Prices Rose 20%
Leading Companies Gather and Major Benefits Await Including Planned Extension of Line 7
International Financial District Designed as a Complex Development Town, New Sales Scheduled for Second Half

Interest in real estate in Cheongna International City, Seo-gu, Incheon, is heating up. Leading companies from various sectors are gathering, and transportation networks to Seoul are significantly improving. In particular, the development of the International Financial District, located at the very center of Cheongna International City, is set to accelerate within the year, drawing attention to new housing complexes.

According to the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority on the 9th, Cheongna International City is being developed over an area of 17.80㎢ in Cheongna-dong, Seo-gu, with a project budget of 6.5965 trillion KRW to create a city where business and residential areas coexist. Along with Songdo and Yeongjong, it is one of Incheon’s three major Free Economic Zones (IFEZ), characterized as a special economic zone providing investment incentives to companies.

Cheongna International City is highly preferred for residential living, attracting many people, but housing supply is practically at its “end stage.” According to Real Estate 114, about 29,000 households were supplied in Cheongna International City until 2017, after which supply has been “stopped” for four years.

On the other hand, demand to move into Cheongna International City remains steady, leading to rising housing prices. By the end of last year, the population of Cheongna International City reached 111,753, increasing by 3.5% in one year. This contrasts with Incheon’s overall population, which decreased by 0.47% during the same period. According to Real Estate 114, housing prices in Cheongna-dong, Seo-gu, where Cheongna International City is located, rose 20.3% last year and surged 21.0% up to September this year, far exceeding the increases in Seoul (9.5%) and the metropolitan area (12.9%) during the same period.

Individual complexes are also setting new record prices with each transaction. The “Cheongna International Financial District Hanyang Sujain Lake Blue” with an exclusive area of 84㎡ recorded a highest price of 1.295 billion KRW in August, and a 59㎡ unit was reported at 760 million KRW in September. Additionally, “Cheongna Prugio” with an exclusive area of 139㎡ was traded for 1.5 billion KRW in July, and “Cheongna The Sharp Lake Park” with 137㎡ was sold for 1.64 billion KRW.

Especially as leading companies are moving into Cheongna International City, transforming it into a self-sufficient city, the price rise trend is expected to continue. Hana Financial Group’s headquarters has settled in Cheongna International City and plans to complete the relocation of affiliates such as Hana Bank and Hana Financial Investment by 2025. Hyundai Mobis’s hydrogen fuel cell R&D center is also planned.

Moreover, large-scale complex shopping malls such as Shinsegae’s Starfield and global retail giant Costco are scheduled, and the Cheongna Medical Complex Town is being promoted, highlighting the establishment of a global bio-medical cluster. In June, the Seoul Asan Hospital consortium was selected as the preferred negotiator for the “Cheongna Medical Complex Town,” which will become home to the global bio-medical cluster.

Transportation networks to Seoul are also steadily improving. Line 7, which allows travel to Gangnam, Seoul without transfers, is planned to pass through Cheongna International City in an “L” shape, and the extension of Seoul Line 2 is also under consideration.

In particular, in the second half of the year, attention is focused on the International Financial District development, a complex development town on a site about the size of 22 soccer fields (approximately 159,000㎡), along with the first housing supply in over four years. The International Financial District is adjacent to the center of Cheongna Lake Park and within walking distance of the planned City Tower Station and International Business District Station on Line 7, making it a prime location in Cheongna International City. The market-leading “Cheongna International Financial District Hanyang Sujain Lake Blue (1,534 households)” has been established, and the B5-2 block will launch sales of “Cheongna Hanyang Sujain Destin (702 units),” a residential officetel, within the year.

Real Estate Info research team leader Kwon Il said, “As the planned transportation networks and corporate attraction projects have entered their main track, prices are expected to rise step-by-step whenever positive factors come into view. The final supply will be residential officetels, which have a low threshold for subscription, so interest from both actual demand and investors is expected to be high.”