Seoul Office Building Transaction Value Halved in April... Office Unit Transactions Up 63.0%

Corporations Purchased 5 Out of 8 Office Buildings in April
Transaction Volume Up 33.3% From Previous Month
Transaction Amount Down 51.4% Compared to Previous Month

The Seoul office sales market showed contrasting trends in April. The number of office building transactions increased, but the total transaction amount decreased. In contrast, the number of office (unit) transactions fell, but the total transaction amount rose significantly.

According to Real Estate Planet, a commercial real estate specialist, the number of office building transactions in Seoul in April was eight, up 33.3% from the previous month. However, the total transaction amount was 275 billion won, a 51.4% decrease from 565.8 billion won in the previous month. Compared to the same month last year, the number of transactions dropped by 20.0%, while the transaction amount plunged by 78.0%.

Buildings in downtown area around Seoul City Hall and Gwanghwamun. Photo by Yonhap News.

Among office building transactions, only the ‘Hana Insurance Building’ in Jongno-gu exceeded 100 billion won, changing hands for approximately 136.9 billion won. The ‘ABL Life Insurance Office’ in Jongno-gu and the ‘Prime Building’ in Gangdong-gu were sold for 54 billion won and 51 billion won, respectively.

By district, there were no transactions in the YBD (Yeongdeungpo-gu, Mapo-gu) area for three consecutive months. The CBD (Jongno-gu, Jung-gu) saw two transactions, totaling 190.9 billion won. The GBD (Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu) recorded one transaction worth 8 billion won, with both the transaction count and amount down by 50% and 96.1%, respectively, from the previous month.

In the office (unit) sales market, the total transaction amount surged. In April, there were 98 office transactions in Seoul, down 7.5% from the previous month. However, the total transaction amount jumped by 63.0% to 483.1 billion won. Compared to the same month last year, the number of transactions decreased by 21.0%, but the transaction amount soared by 119.5%.

By area, the CBD led the increase with 25 transactions totaling 446.7 billion won. Other districts also saw both transaction count and amount increase, with 42 transactions totaling 13.6 billion won compared to the previous month. In contrast, both the number and amount of transactions in the GBD and YBD areas declined.

Corporate buyers were particularly active in April. Of the eight office building transactions in Seoul during this period, corporations purchased five. In terms of transaction value, deals between corporations amounted to 251 billion won, accounting for 91.3% of the total. In office (unit) sales, corporations bought 52 out of 98 transactions, and corporate-to-corporate deals totaled 443.5 billion won, representing 91.8% of the total transaction amount.

Jung Sumin, CEO of Real Estate Planet, stated, “In April, the Seoul office sales market showed a mixed trend with office building transaction amounts declining, while office (unit) transactions surged, mainly driven by corporate deals. As new office supply will remain limited in the medium to long term, selective investment focused on high-quality assets is expected to continue.”

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