Gangnam District Records Highest Transactions in First Half of the Year: 1,105 Deals, Up 106% Year-on-Year
No Transactions in Outer Nodogang Areas... Demand Expected Despite Loan Restrictions
This year, the price segment that saw the largest increase in apartment transactions in Seoul was those priced at 2.6 billion won or higher.
According to RealToday, a real estate research firm, the number of apartment transactions in Seoul priced at 2.6 billion won or more reached a total of 3,424 in the first half of this year, a sharp increase of 133.4% compared to the same period last year (1,467 transactions).
On the 6th, the view of apartment and villa complexes in downtown Seoul as seen from Seoul Sky, the observation deck of Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
This was followed by apartments priced between 1.6 billion and less than 2.6 billion won (up 83.6%), between 1.2 billion and less than 1.6 billion won (up 74.6%), between 600 million and less than 1.2 billion won (up 38.3%), and less than 600 million won (up 24.1%). In summary, the higher the apartment price, the greater the increase in transaction volume.
The surge in transactions of apartments priced at 2.6 billion won or higher is largely attributed to increased activity in the so-called Gangnam 3 districts (Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa) and the Mayongseong area (Mapo, Yongsan, Seongdong). By district, Gangnam recorded the highest number of transactions at this price point with 1,105, up 106.5% (570 more transactions) from the same period last year. Seocho saw 862 transactions, an increase of 50.2% (288 more), and Songpa recorded 561 transactions, up 392.1% (447 more).
In Mapo (from 11 to 36 transactions), the increase was 227.3%; in Yongsan (from 112 to 184 transactions), 64.3%; and in Seongdong (from 32 to 102 transactions), 218.8%. Each of these districts saw a significant rise in transactions of apartments priced at 2.6 billion won or more.
Transactions in the Gangnam 3 districts accounted for 73.8% of all Seoul transactions at 2.6 billion won or above, and when including the Mayongseong area, the six districts together made up as much as 83.2% of such transactions.
For example, the most expensive transaction among the standard 84-square-meter units in the first half of this year was for Raemian One Bailey in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, which was sold for 7 billion won. This apartment recorded 40 transactions in the first half of this year, an increase of 19 (90.5%) compared to 21 transactions during the same period last year. In March, this apartment became the first standard unit in the Gangnam area to surpass 20 million won per 3.3 square meters, ushering in the era of "2 billion won per pyeong for standard units in Gangnam."
On the 6th, a view of apartment and villa complexes in downtown Seoul as seen from Seoul Sky, the observation deck of Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
In contrast, there was not a single transaction of apartments priced at 2.6 billion won or more in the outer districts of Seoul such as Nodogang (Nowon, Dobong, Gangbuk) and Geumgwanggu (Geumcheon, Gwanak, Guro). The highest transaction in these areas during the first half of the year was 1.865 billion won in Guro-gu.
The average price of apartments in Seoul during the first half of the year was 1.3003 billion won, an increase of 11.7% compared to the same period last year (1.16441 billion won). The total transaction volume was 40,556, up 52.5% from the same period last year.
In June alone, there were 10,027 transactions. Given that there are still about 20 days left in the reporting period, it is highly likely that this will surpass March (10,323 transactions) and become the highest monthly transaction volume of the year.
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