The sale price of small apartments with an exclusive area of 60 square meters or less has entered the 4 billion won range for the first time this year.
According to the actual transaction price disclosure system of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on July 20, a 59.96 square meter unit at Raemian One Bailey in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, was sold for 4.05 billion won (29th floor) on February 24. This was the first time in the country that the sale price of a small-sized apartment exceeded 4 billion won.
The sale price for the same unit size at this apartment complex rose for about a month until just before Seocho-gu was re-designated as a land transaction permission zone (March 24), and set a new record for the highest price ever for a small-sized apartment when a 12th-floor unit was sold for 4.3 billion won on March 22. In addition, last month, a 59.96 square meter unit (6th floor) at Raemian Prestige in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, a 59.98 square meter unit (12th floor) at Acro River Park, and two 49.98 square meter units (3rd and 10th floors) at Hanyang 1st (Yeongdong Hanyang) in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, were each sold for 4 billion won.
In the first half of this year (January to June), there were nine sales contracts for small-sized apartments in the 4 billion won range in Banpo-dong and Apgujeong-dong alone. The increase in preference for small-sized apartments is a phenomenon observed not only in prime areas such as Gangnam but also throughout Seoul.
According to the housing price trend survey statistics from KB Kookmin Bank, last month, the average sale price of small apartments in 11 districts south of the Han River in Seoul was 1.01398 billion won, re-entering the 1 billion won range for the first time in about four years since September (1.01132 billion won) and October (1.00059 billion won) of 2021, when real estate prices soared.
Last month, the average sale price of small apartments across all of Seoul was 853.5 million won, surpassing the 850 million won mark for the first time in about three years since September 2022 (855.77 million won).
The 59.97 square meter unit at Jugong 2nd Apartment in Daebang-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, rose to the 1.1 billion won range in 2021, then dropped to the high 800 million won range during the real estate downturn, but was sold for 1.01 billion won (12th floor) and 1 billion won (4th floor) on the 3rd and 7th of last month, respectively.
As of the first half of the year, the number of small apartment sales transactions in Seoul for less than 600 million won was 2,674 in 2022, 3,652 in 2023, 4,336 last year, and 5,954 so far this year.
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