Seoul Apartment Prices Rise for 3 Consecutive Weeks... Capital Region Rebounds After 17 Months

Gangnam and Yongsan Up... Nowon Turns Downward
Seoul Jeonse Prices Also Rise for 3 Consecutive Weeks

Seoul apartment prices have risen for three consecutive weeks. While the Gangnam area and Yongsan and Mapo districts continued their upward trend, Nowon district shifted to a decline after two weeks of stability. Overall, the Seoul metropolitan area saw a price increase for the first time in about 1 year and 5 months.

View of downtown apartments from Namsan, Seoul / Photo by Yonhap News

According to the 'Weekly Apartment Price Trends' released by the Korea Real Estate Board on the 8th, apartment prices in the Seoul metropolitan area rose by 0.01% in the first week of June (as of the 5th), marking a rebound for the first time in about 17 months since the third week of January last year (0.01%).

Seoul apartment prices increased by 0.04%, the same as the previous week. The Real Estate Board explained, "Although the gap between buyers' and sellers' desired prices has not narrowed, inquiries from buyers have been maintained mainly in areas with favorable living conditions and major large complexes, leading to some upward transactions."

During the period of interest rate hikes, Seoul apartment prices had been declining since the first week of May last year due to a transaction freeze, but at the beginning of this year, low-priced properties were withdrawn and asking prices began to rise due to the government's easing of loan and tax regulations. Expectations that interest rate hikes will gradually stop have increased, bringing warmth starting from the Gangnam area.

In fact, Seocho district (0.21%→0.10%) and Gangnam district (0.13%→0.20%) rose for 8 and 7 consecutive weeks respectively, while Songpa district (0.22%→0.30%) and Gangdong district (0.09%→0.07%) have been rising for 4 weeks. Yongsan district (0.08%) and Dongjak district (0.07%) also continued their upward trend. Mapo district (0.08%) increased its margin and rose for 3 consecutive weeks.

On the other hand, Nowon district (-0.02%) reversed to a decline after maintaining an upward trend for 4 consecutive weeks and 2 weeks of stability. Jung district also fell by 0.03% after 3 weeks of upward movement.

Incheon (0.04%) showed mixed trends by region but generally rose slightly. Michuhol district (-0.04%) saw apartment prices in Juan and Yonghyeon-dong decline due to upcoming supply, but Jung (0.02%) and Yeonsu (0.08%) districts rebounded after low-priced properties were exhausted.

Gyeonggi province (-0.02%→-0.01%) reduced its decline. Cheoin district in Yongin city (0.14%) continued to rise for 11 weeks due to the ongoing benefits of the national industrial complex development centered on Namsa and Idong-eup. Hanam city (0.25%) and Sujeong district in Seongnam city (0.20%) also showed strong performance. Conversely, Goyang city saw declines of 0.21% and 0.23% in Ilsandong and Seo districts respectively.

Seoul jeonse prices (0.05%→0.03%) also rose for three consecutive weeks. Songpa district (0.22%), Gangnam district (0.21%), Yangcheon district (0.09%), and Seongbuk district (0.04%) experienced increases. Nationwide, jeonse prices' decline slowed from -0.08% to -0.05%.