Seoul apartment prices rise for 90th straight week... gains spread to southern Gyeonggi Province

[Financial News] Seoul apartment sale prices have risen for 90 consecutive weeks, extending their longest-ever run of increases. In the Seoul metropolitan area, price gains that began amid strength in the semiconductor industry appear to be spreading to areas near southern Gyeonggi Province.
According to the Korea Real Estate Board on the 29th, Seoul apartment sale prices rose 0.09% in the fourth week of October (as of the 26th) from the previous week. The board said prices fell in some areas as listings came onto the market at lower prices, while demand continued in others, resulting in mixed gains and declines across different areas.
Among Seoul’s 25 districts, Seongbuk District posted the biggest increase, at 0.39%. It was followed by Seodaemun District at 0.36%, Jongno District at 0.35%, and Gangbuk and Dobong districts at 0.32% each. Yongsan District rose 0.04%, extending its gains for a third straight week since turning positive.
By contrast, declines widened across all three Gangnam districts. Gangnam-gu’s decline deepened from 0.31% last week to 0.38% this week, while Seocho-gu’s widened from 0.32% to 0.35%. Songpa District also saw its decline widen, from 0.13% to 0.22%.
Nam Hyuk-woo, a real estate researcher at Woori Bank, said homebuyers remained on the sidelines and policy uncertainty persisted. He added, "With macroeconomic factors such as interest rate hikes also in play, the slowdown in transactions and weakness in prices in those areas are likely to persist for the time being."
Apartment sale prices rose 0.07% nationwide and 0.14% in the Seoul metropolitan area. Incheon fell 0.01%, turning to a decline.
In Gyeonggi Province, Gunpo City and Suwon’s Yeongtong District each rose 0.58%, the highest increase nationwide. Yongin’s Giheung-gu rose 0.54%, Uiwang-si 0.47%, and Byeongjeom in Hwaseong 0.44%, among other areas that posted strong gains. The heat in the housing market in southern Gyeonggi Province, centered on Suwon, appears to be spreading to surrounding areas.
Nam said, "As the shortage of jeonse and monthly rental listings persists, actual homebuyers with limited purchasing power are moving to nearby areas without price regulations, or buying demand among tenants in those areas is increasing. As a result, the market around 600 million won, which is at the lower end of the price range in the Seoul metropolitan area, is seeing strong price gains."
Jeonse prices also rose. Nationwide apartment jeonse prices increased 0.10%, while those in the Seoul metropolitan area and Seoul each rose 0.17%. Gyeonggi Province recorded a 0.18% increase and Incheon a 0.10% increase.


[email protected] Choi Ga-young Reporter