With Solid Infrastructure and Increasing Scarcity, Old Downtown Areas Reborn as Emerging Residential Districts, Driving Up Value Rapidly

New Housing Developments in Old Downtown Areas Like 'Hanwha Forena Cheonan Sinbu' Attract Attention
Enjoy Solid Infrastructure Immediately and High Scarcity Value

The old downtown areas continue to play a significant role in the real estate market. These regions, once filled with aging houses, are being reborn as emerging residential zones, leading to a renewed appreciation of their value.

The biggest advantage of old downtown areas is that most of the living infrastructure is already well-established. They boast excellent transportation networks, shopping and convenience facilities, as well as prestigious school districts with long-standing traditions. Additionally, with outstanding residential environments in place, residents who purchase new apartments in these old downtown areas can immediately enjoy all these amenities upon moving in.

Because of this, new complexes in old downtown areas quickly catch up to the prices of surrounding apartments and even lead the market in price increases. Moreover, due to the scarcity of apartment supply over several years, these areas have high rarity value. This is distinctly different from new towns, where it takes a long time for apartment prices to rise significantly even after large-scale move-ins.

In fact, last year’s sales market highlighted remarkable records for apartments in old downtown areas. ‘Maegyo Station Prugio SK View,’ supplied in Paldal-gu, Suwon, an old downtown area in Gyeonggi Province, attracted 156,505 applicants for 1,074 units in February last year, marking the highest number of applicants ever recorded in Suwon. The average competition rate for first-priority applications also reached triple digits (145.7 to 1).

‘Hillstate Namcheon Station The First,’ supplied in Suyeong-gu, an old downtown area in Busan, recorded the highest average competition rate nationwide last year with 558.02 to 1 in the first-priority application held in December. This complex also offers convenient access to various living infrastructures such as transportation (Busan Metro Line 2 Namcheon Station), schools (Namcheon Elementary School, Suyeong District Library), and a supermarket (Mega Mart), which is believed to have attracted a large number of applicants.

Individual housing prices are also soaring. According to Naver Real Estate, the 84.95㎡ unit of ‘Hanwha Forena Cheonan Dujeong,’ supplied in the old downtown area of Seobuk-gu, Cheonan in 2019, was traded last month for 515.9 million KRW (6th floor). This is about 200 million KRW higher than the 330.7 million KRW (4th floor) transaction in the same month last year. Additionally, the neighboring complex ‘Hillstate Cheonan Sinbu’ saw its 84.98㎡ unit sold for 448 million KRW in January. This complex was traded between 315 million and 340 million KRW as recently as January last year. The area known as the Shindujeong district is forming a new residential belt with many high-rise branded apartments, which is believed to have raised expectations.

A real estate expert said, “Interest in emerging residential areas is steadily increasing nationwide, including the metropolitan area and local regions. The market is solidly supported by a mix of existing residents who do not want to leave their original homes and new residents who see future value, so the popularity of these areas is expected to continue for some time.”

Meanwhile, new sales are continuing in old downtown areas emerging as new residential zones, including Cheonan, drawing attention. Hanwha Construction plans to sell ‘Hanwha Forena Cheonan Sinbu’ in the Cheonan area of Chungnam in April. The complex will consist of 6 buildings, ranging from 2 basement floors to 29 floors above ground, with units sized between 76 and 159㎡, totaling 602 households. The Shindujeong area where the complex is being developed is rapidly becoming a large-scale emerging residential zone with about 10,000 households as branded apartments are continuously built. In particular, ‘Hanwha Forena Cheonan Sinbu’ is expected to form a Forena brand town of about 1,700 households within the Shindujeong district together with ‘Hanwha Forena Cheonan Dujeong,’ which was successfully sold in 2019.

Within a 3 km radius, large shopping facilities such as Shinsegae Department Store, Lotte Mart, and E-Mart, as well as Dankook University Hospital and Daejeon University Cheonan Oriental Medicine Hospital, are conveniently located. Residents can enjoy leisure and relaxation at the planned children’s park next to the complex and along the Cheonan Stream walking trail, which leads to Cheonho Reservoir and Cheonhoji Sports Park.

Hyundai Engineering will begin accepting applications on the 17th for ‘Hillstate Gwangcheon,’ a residential-commercial complex in the old downtown area of Seo-gu, Gwangju. The complex will consist of 3 buildings with 3 basement floors and 28 to 32 floors above ground, totaling 359 households. The nearby Gwangju U-Square, a comprehensive bus terminal, offers convenient transportation. Additionally, the Gwangju Stream flows in front of the complex.

In Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, a consortium of Daewoo Construction, Lotte Construction, and Hyundai Engineering plans to sell ‘Gwangmyeong 2R District Housing Redevelopment (tentative name).’ The complex will be a large-scale development with 3,344 households ranging from 36 to 102㎡, of which 730 units will be sold to the public. Its advantage is easy access to Seoul, with Gwangmyeongsageori Station on Subway Line 7 nearby.

Meanwhile, sales of residential lodging facilities in old downtown areas continue. Lotte Construction will accept applications on the 17th and 18th for ‘Lotte Castle De Mer,’ located in Dong-gu, Busan. The complex consists of 2 buildings ranging from 5 basement floors to 59 floors above ground, with a total of 1,221 units sized between 45 and 335㎡.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.