As Home Prices Rise in Seoul and Gwangmyeong-si, Attention Turns to Bucheon... ‘Doosan We've the Zenith Bucheon’ to Supply 2,008 Units

[Financial News] As apartment prices continue to rise in the outskirts of Seoul and Gwangmyeong-si, more Seoul residents are buying homes in nearby Bucheon. The shift is driven by relatively lower prices than in Seoul and Gwangmyeong-si, Bucheon’s status as a non-regulated area, and plans to expand regional transportation networks. 
According to the Korea Real Estate Board on the 8th, apartment prices in Seoul rose 0.07% from the previous week in the first week of November (as of the 2nd), marking 91 consecutive weeks of increases. The gains were especially pronounced outside the Gangnam area. Prices rose 0.31% in Seodaemun District, 0.30% in Seongbuk and Geumcheon districts, 0.28% in Jungnang-gu, 0.26% in Gangbuk District and 0.25% in Guro District, all above the Seoul average. 
Gwangmyeong-si, adjacent to Seoul’s Guro and Geumcheon districts, also rose 0.33% that week, far exceeding the 0.20% increase for Gyeonggi Province as a whole. Price changes are also evident in individual transactions. An 84-square-meter unit at ‘Cheolsan Xi The Heritage’ in Cheolsan-dong, Gwangmyeong-si, sold for 1.3 billion won in January last year and 1.92 billion won in July this year, an increase of 620 million won over about a year and a half.
Purchases by Seoul residents have also increased in neighboring Bucheon. An analysis of Korea Real Estate Board data by Real Estate Info found that Seoul residents bought 774 apartments in Bucheon from January to May this year, more than double the 358 purchases during the same period last year. Seoul residents accounted for 20.0% of all apartment transactions in Bucheon.
Compared with Seoul and Gwangmyeong-si, apartment prices in Bucheon are relatively low, and the city has not been designated a Speculative Overheating Zone or an Adjustment Target Area. Industry observers say demand from people seeking to reduce housing costs while remaining within Seoul’s sphere of daily life is moving to Bucheon.
Prices are also rising within Bucheon. According to KB Real Estate, apartment prices in Wonmi District were up 0.71% from the previous week as of August 24. They had risen for 39 consecutive weeks since late November last year, with increases continuing particularly in areas such as the Sang-dong and Jung-dong neighborhoods.
A series of regional rail projects are being pursued in Bucheon. GTX-B, which will pass through Bucheon Sports Complex Station, is under development with an opening targeted for 2031. The Western Region Metropolitan Express Railway, which will run from Janggi in Gimpo through Daejang and Sports Complex stations in Bucheon toward Seoul, has passed a preliminary feasibility study and is moving on to subsequent procedures.
The Daejang–Hongdae metropolitan railway, which will connect Bucheon’s Daejang District with Hongik University Station in Seoul, is also being pursued. Plans are underway for KTX-Eum trains on the Seohae Line to stop at Sosa Station. Bucheon City submitted the results of a preliminary feasibility study to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in July and is coordinating with relevant agencies and proceeding with approval procedures, targeting a stop there in 2029.
However, these projects are at different stages and have different procedures, so whether and when they will open or have trains stop at the stations will need to be confirmed as they progress.
Existing rail services include Seoul Subway Lines 1 and 7 and the Seohae Line. Road access is available via the Nambu Beltway, Gyeongin Expressway and Capital Region First Ring Expressway, among others.
Against this backdrop, a consortium of Doosan Engineering & Construction and Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd. will supply the large-scale ‘Doosan We've the Zenith Bucheon’ complex in Sosa Bon-dong, Sosa-gu, Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. The complex comprises 1,728 apartment units and 280 officetel units, for a total of 2,008 units.
The site is near Sosa Station, where Seoul Subway Line 1 and the Seohae Line meet. The two lines provide access to Seoul and the western part of the capital region, and Sosa is one stop from Bucheon Sports Complex Station, a planned GTX-B stop, via the Seohae Line.
A real estate industry official said, “As rising apartment prices in the capital region have spread from the Gangnam area to Seoul’s outskirts and neighboring areas such as Gwangmyeong-si, interest has also continued in Bucheon, where prices are relatively more affordable.”
[email protected] Choi Ga-young Reporter