Nationwide Commercial and Office Building Transactions Increase for Three Consecutive Months... Seoul Sees Transactions Exceeding 1 Trillion Won

Last month, the transaction volume in the nationwide commercial and office building market increased for the third consecutive month. Gyeonggi-do recorded the highest transaction volume nationwide, and Seoul was the only region to record a transaction scale in the 1 trillion KRW range.

Planning_Yeouido Securities District, Park One, LG Twin Towers. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

July Nationwide Commercial and Office Building Transaction Volume Up 3.6% MoM... Three Consecutive Months of Increase

According to Real Estate Planet, a big data and AI commercial real estate company, a total of 1,213 commercial and office buildings were traded nationwide in July, up 3.6% from 1,171 in the previous month. This marks a three-month consecutive increase since recording 1,126 transactions in April, representing an increase of over 75% compared to 692 transactions in January this year. The transaction amount was 2.3978 trillion KRW, showing a modest 0.8% increase compared to the previous month.

By region, Gyeonggi-do led with a total of 260 transactions, ranking first among the 17 provinces nationwide, followed by Seoul with 139 transactions, Gyeongbuk with 105, Chungnam with 95, and Gyeongnam with 87. In terms of transaction amount, Seoul recorded 1.1334 trillion KRW, the only region to surpass the 1 trillion KRW mark nationwide. This was followed by Gyeonggi with 382.1 billion KRW, Busan with 153.2 billion KRW, Daejeon with 139.1 billion KRW, and Incheon with 83.3 billion KRW. However, compared to the same month last year, both transaction volume and amount decreased by 15.9% and 45.5%, respectively, indicating that it may take some time for a full recovery.

Among 17 Provinces Nationwide, Mixed Changes in Transaction Volume MoM... Sejong City Only Region with Increase YoY

The commercial and office building transaction market showed diverse trends across local governments nationwide. Compared to June, Sejong City showed the largest increase in both transaction volume and amount, rising by 80% and 519.8%, respectively. Compared to the same month last year, these figures increased by 50% and 41.9%, making Sejong the only region nationwide to surpass last year's record. Other regions showing increases compared to June include Gangwon with 40%, Chungnam with 23.4%, Daejeon with 20.7%, and Jeonnam with 18.2%.

On the other hand, except for Sejong (519.8%), Daejeon (124.2%), Daegu (46.3%), Gwangju (7.7%), and Seoul (4%), all other regions experienced decreases in transaction amounts.

Focusing on Seoul, the transaction volume of commercial and office buildings in July was 139, up 9.4% from June. The transaction amount also increased by 4% from 1.0899 trillion KRW in the previous month to 1.1334 trillion KRW. However, compared to the same month last year, Seoul's transaction volume and amount decreased by 17.3% and 59.2%, respectively.

Small Building Strength Continues... July Small Building Transactions Account for 72.7% of Total

The popularity of small and "Kkoma" buildings remained strong in July. Small buildings (under 1,000 pyeong) accounted for 136 transactions, approximately 97.8% of the total 139 transactions. Among these, "Kkoma" buildings (commercial and office buildings with a total floor area exceeding 100㎡ but not exceeding 3,000㎡) accounted for 101 transactions, representing 72.7% of the total. In contrast, medium-sized buildings (1,000 pyeong to under 5,000 pyeong) and medium-large buildings (5,000 pyeong to under 10,000 pyeong) recorded only 2 and 1 transactions, respectively.

By district, Gangnam-gu recorded 16 transactions with a transaction amount of 298.9 billion KRW, surpassing all other districts in Seoul. This was followed by Jongno-gu with 14 transactions, Jung-gu with 13, Mapo-gu with 12, and Yeongdeungpo-gu with 11 transactions. In terms of transaction amount, Yongsan-gu led with 240 billion KRW, followed by Jung-gu with 151.9 billion KRW, Mapo-gu with 57.5 billion KRW, and Seocho-gu with 54.5 billion KRW.

Jung Sumin, CEO of Real Estate Planet, said, "The commercial and office building transaction market has continued a generally positive trend through July following the first half of this year. Recently, sellers have shown a tendency to adjust prices slightly to increase the likelihood of deal closing, and buyers are also participating more actively in price negotiations. Therefore, it is important to decide on an appropriate investment timing for properties of interest."