"Gwacheon Overtakes Songpa... Which Area Saw the Highest Apartment Price Increase This Year?"

After Regulations, Some Gangnam Demand Shifts to Gwacheon
Supply Shortage as Reconstruction Progresses... Jeonse Prices Also Rank First Nationwide
Sejong Rises to Second in Weekly Growth Amid Expectations for "Capital Relocation"

Gwacheon, a city in Gyeonggi Province often referred to as "quasi-Gangnam," has recorded the highest apartment price growth rate in South Korea this year. Gwacheon also posted the highest apartment price growth rate nationwide for two consecutive years in 2023 and 2024. This result comes as Gwacheon's upward trend has continued while the southeastern region of Seoul has slowed down following the expansion of designated land transaction permit zones (Toheoguyeok).

Apartment prices in Gwacheon continue to hit new highs this month. The photo shows Central Park Prugio Summit, one of the complexes where record-breaking transactions have occurred.

According to the Korea Real Estate Board's "Weekly Apartment Price Trends for the Third Week of April (as of April 21)," apartment prices in Gwacheon rose by 0.28% compared to the previous week, marking the highest increase nationwide. With a cumulative growth rate of 4.42% this year, Gwacheon has overtaken Songpa District (4.35%) to become the region with the highest apartment price growth rate in 2025. Gwacheon, which ranked first in annual apartment price growth nationwide for two consecutive years with 18.03% in 2023 and 17.23% in 2024, has once again taken the lead.

Since Gangnam 3 Districts (Gangnam, Seocho, and Songpa) and Yongsan District were newly designated as land transaction permit zones on March 24, Gwacheon has ranked first in weekly price growth in all but one of the four subsequent weekly surveys. Gwacheon also recorded the highest weekly increase in jeonse (long-term deposit lease) prices at 0.23%. Gwacheon leads the nation in cumulative annual jeonse price growth as well, with a 2.56% increase. As reconstruction projects for Gwacheon Jugong Complexes 5, 8, and 9 are moving forward in earnest, a supply shortage has emerged, leading to a "jeonse shortage" phenomenon.

It is interpreted that both investment and end-user demand are pushing Gwacheon apartment prices higher, as some demand from the Gangnam area has shifted to Gwacheon following the new regulations. Since the beginning of this month, record-high transactions have been reported in both new and reconstructed complexes, including a 47-square-meter unit in Gwacheon Jugong 9 Complex, a 59-square-meter unit in Gwacheon Xi, a 59-square-meter unit in Central Park Prugio Summit, a 99-square-meter unit in Gwacheon Weverfield, an 84-square-meter unit in Gwacheon Prugio Summit, and a 59-square-meter unit in Raemian Sueur. A real estate agent in Gwacheon commented, "Gwacheon is rapidly emerging as an alternative to Gangnam, as it offers similar loan conditions, location, school districts, and living environment, but with less stringent regulations. Given that listings are being withdrawn from the market, the upward trend is unlikely to be short-lived." Some predict that Gwacheon may even be designated as a speculative overheating zone.

Following Gwacheon, Sejong City, which is heating up amid calls for it to become the new capital, recorded the second-highest weekly apartment price growth nationwide at 0.23%. Last week, Sejong shifted from a decline to an increase for the first time in one year and five months since November 2023. The price increase widened from 0.04% the previous week to 0.23%. The Korea Real Estate Board stated, "The price increase was centered on Gowon-dong and Dajeong-dong, where residential conditions are favorable, expanding the overall increase in Sejong." With an early presidential election scheduled for June, leading candidates such as Lee Jaemyung, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, have mentioned relocating the presidential office and public institutions, fueling expectations for the "administrative capital relocation."

Meanwhile, apartments in Gangnam 3 Districts and Yongsan District, where a "transaction cliff" has persisted since the new regulations, continued to see price increases. Although transaction volumes have plummeted, prices have not declined. As of the third week of April, Gangnam rose by 0.13%, Seocho by 0.18%, Songpa by 0.18%, and Yongsan by 0.13% compared to the previous week. Including these four districts, Seoul apartment sale prices increased by 0.08%, the same rate as the previous week. Nationwide, apartment sale prices fell by 0.01%, marking the fifth consecutive week of decline. The ongoing decrease in non-metropolitan areas (-0.04%) continues to drive the nationwide drop in apartment prices. Nationwide jeonse prices remained flat compared to the previous week.