Pyeongtaek and Yongin Cities Sold Despite Transaction Cliff... Job Creation Effect

Despite the metropolitan apartment sales market plunging into the worst transaction cliff in history, transactions have been relatively active in areas where job and industrial facility inflows remain steady.

On the 13th, KB Real Estate analyzed the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price disclosure system and found that a total of 29,319 apartment sales transactions took place in Gyeonggi Province in the first half of this year. This is about one-quarter of the 96,656 transactions recorded in the same period last year.

However, the combined transaction volume of three cities?Pyeongtaek, Goyang, and Yongin?reached 7,620, accounting for 25.98% of the total transactions, showing strong interest despite the market downturn. These areas are commonly analyzed to benefit from job expansion and accessibility to business facilities. This is expected to be a key variable in the era of population decline.

First, Pyeongtaek recorded 3,106 transactions in the first half of this year, the highest among the 31 cities and counties in Gyeonggi Province. This accounts for 10.6% of the total transactions in Gyeonggi Province. KB Real Estate stated, "Pyeongtaek is home to South Korea's top conglomerate, Samsung Electronics' semiconductor line." They added, "In addition, large-scale industrial complexes such as Songtan General Industrial Complex and Chilgoe General Industrial Complex are being developed, continuously attracting population inflows."

In fact, Pyeongtaek has transformed into a new city with numerous newly built apartment complexes centered around Godeok International New City and near Jije Station. According to Statistics Korea, the population of Pyeongtaek, which was 480,000 in 2017, exceeded 560,000 last year.

Yongin is also a region where job effects are expected for the time being. A ‘Platform City’ worth a total of 6.2 trillion KRW is planned to be developed in Yongin. It is a city that integrates knowledge-based advanced industries along with research and development (R&D), central commercial offices, residential facilities, and cultural welfare facilities in one place. A ‘Semiconductor Cluster’ covering a total area of 4.15 million square meters is also planned. About 50 domestic semiconductor partner companies, including SK Hynix, will be located there.

Goyang, which includes Changneung New City being developed as a job-specialized city, also demonstrated its presence with 2,483 transactions in the first half of this year. The Goyang Changneung district, where 38,000 households are planned to be supplied, is the closest among the 3rd New Towns to Seoul. Notably, the GTX-A line, which is scheduled to pass through Changneung district, will run through key business districts such as Seoul Station and Gangnam.

KB Real Estate said, "Unlike last year, the real estate market has somewhat slowed down this year, but areas where quality jobs are created or various positive factors are announced show relatively high transaction volumes," forecasting that jobs will become a key variable in the real estate market going forward.