Housing Loans to Expand to 500 Million Won... Shuttle-Access Areas Near 'Icheon Hynix in 40 Minutes' Heat Up

"Until recently, SK hynix employees were buying a lot of the 59-square-meter and 84-square-meter units at Goddeok Gracium and Arteon. Perhaps that is because shuttle buses run to exits 1 and 2 of Sangil-dong station in front of the apartment, and because bonuses are being paid," said a local real estate agent identified as A in Gangdong-gu, Seoul.
As the SK hynix labor union is reportedly preparing to ask management to expand housing loans, the mood in real estate around so-called shuttle-access areas served by company buses is shifting. The expectation is that if housing loans are increased on top of the abolition of the bonus cap, buying demand will flow in strongly. In the Seoul metropolitan area, including Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, that optimism is already being reflected in prices.
■ Shuttle ride to the company in 40 minutes... shuttle-access areas heat up
As of the 2nd, 10 apartment complexes in the Seoul and Gyeonggi areas were identified as shuttle-access complexes served by SK hynix buses. In Seoul, the main examples are Goddeok Gracium, Heliocity and Jamsil Le Cents. In Gyeonggi Province, the representative complexes include Pangyo Prugio Grandble, Bundang Yangji Kumho Apartment Complex, Wirye Central Xi, Sanseong Station Forestia, Dongtan Station Lotte Castle, Suji Sinjeong Village and Jungheung S-Class Gwanggyo.
Most of these apartment complexes are now aiming for record-high prices.
At Goddeok Gracium, the 84-square-meter unit, considered the standard size for a Korean apartment, traded for as much as 2.5 billion won in April. That was just 100 million won below the record high of 2.6 billion won set in October last year. The 59-square-meter unit has also come very close to its peak. It sold for 2.075 billion won on May 3, while the record for the same size is 2.1 billion won, set in a January transaction this year. From the apartment complex, SK hynix can be reached in the 40-minute range by shuttle.
In particular, buying demand from people without homes is continuing. One broker said, "There is a mood of buying a home first through gap investment, anticipating the size of the bonus in advance, and then later using the bonus and savings to prepare the deposit for a jeonse lease." The broker added, "If the jeonse deposit is too burdensome, there is also a semi-jeonse option that lowers the upfront cash needed."
■ Nine more shuttle-access complexes with 50-minute commutes also rise
Heliocity and Jamsil Le Cents both take about 50 minutes by shuttle before arriving at the company.
Heliocity, which had seen a number of bargain listings ahead of the reinstatement of heavier capital gains taxes on multi-homeowners, is gradually recovering its previous price levels. In fact, a 84-square-meter unit traded for 2.87 billion won on May 23. Compared with the 2.695 billion won transaction in early April, that is an increase of nearly 200 million won. As of May, Heliocity's total market value stood at 22.61 trillion won, the highest in the country.
Jamsil Le Cents, home to 5,563 households, currently has only two listings on the market. In April, an 84-square-meter unit sold for 3.6 billion won, setting a new record.
The seven SK hynix shuttle-access complexes in Gyeonggi Province have also recently seen prices rebound or continue to widen their gains. Wirye Central Xi, which had held in the 1.5 billion to 1.6 billion won range for some time, set a new record on the 18th of last month when a 59-square-meter unit sold for 1.87 billion won.
A broker near Sangil-dong said, "Even last year, people who had to rely on loans are now able to secure funds through bonuses, stocks and other means, so that concern has disappeared." The broker added, "It means they now have the ability to pay apartment prices."
kjh0109@fnnews.com Kwon Jun-ho Reporter