Selling a House in Seoul Buys Six in Gyeongbuk... Widening Gap Between Capital Region and Provinces

Seoul Apartment Prices Soar 95% in 4 Years
Gyeongbuk Sees Only 26% Increase

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] As housing prices surged mainly in the metropolitan area and major cities, the asset gap between the metropolitan area and local regions has widened further. With real estate buying sentiment shrinking, concerns are rising that the polarization between the Seoul metropolitan area and local markets could deepen as buyers begin to distinguish between good and bad properties.

On the 30th, Real House, a specialized company in housing sales evaluation, analyzed real estate statistical information from the Korea Real Estate Board and found that over the four years since November 2017, the average apartment sale price in metropolitan areas and major cities (including Sejong City) rose by 89% to 530.56 million KRW. In contrast, apartment prices in local regions increased by only 30% during the same period, reaching an average of 216.36 million KRW.

As of last month, the region with the highest apartment prices was Seoul. The average apartment sale price in Seoul surged 95% compared to four years ago, reaching 1.14829 billion KRW. During the same period, Sejong recorded the second highest average sale price at 714 million KRW. At the end of 2017, the average apartment price in Sejong was 245.63 million KRW, nearly tripling in four years. Gyeonggi followed with 608.83 million KRW, and Incheon with 437.86 million KRW.

On the other hand, the average apartment price in the Gyeongbuk region was 174.01 million KRW, rising only 26% during the same period, while Gangwon increased by 38% to 183.44 million KRW. Jeonnam rose 54% to 187.11 million KRW.

As price disparities emerged by region, the gap between the average apartment sale price in Seoul and that in Gyeongbuk widened to 6.6 times. This means that selling one apartment in Seoul could buy 6.6 apartments in Gyeongbuk. Compared to 2017, when the price difference between the lowest-priced Jeonnam and Seoul apartments was 4.83 times, the gap has further expanded.