Slight Decline in Buying Sentiment for Recovering Seoul Apartments

Apartment view in Seoul / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Taemin] Apartment buying sentiment, which briefly recovered last week, has shown signs of weakening again.

According to the Korea Real Estate Board on the 15th, the apartment sales supply-demand index in Seoul for this week (as of the 9th) was 91.0, down 0.1 points from last week (91.1).

The Seoul apartment sales supply-demand index had risen for seven consecutive weeks due to expectations of regulatory easing such as reconstruction tax policies by the new government after the presidential election, but recently showed a mixed trend of decline and rise. Last week, it rose by 0.6 points showing signs of recovery, but this week it slightly declined again. Generally, when the sales supply-demand index is below the baseline (100), it means there are more sellers than buyers in the market.

By region, the downtown area including Yongsan and Jongno-gu, where the presidential office relocated, saw the largest drop of 0.8 points from the previous week, falling to 91.1.

Gyeonggi-do also saw its upward trend due to expectations for reconstruction in the first-generation new towns weaken, dropping 0.8 points from 92.4 last week to 91.6 this week. Incheon also showed a decrease in buying demand, falling from 95.0 last week to 93.8 this week.

The apartment supply-demand index in the metropolitan area remained the same as last week at 95.5. The Seoul apartment jeonse supply-demand index also maintained 94.7 following last week, marking the highest level this year.