Seoul Apartment Prices Rise for 87 Straight Weeks... Budget Buyers Flock to 'Geum-Gwan-Gu' [Real Estate A to Z]

Seoul apartment prices up 0.12% week over week
87 consecutive weeks of gains, the longest streak on record
Gangnam-gu declines for ninth straight week
Outlying districts, including Gwanak-gu and Geumcheon-gu, lead gains

Seoul apartment prices rose 0.12% from the previous week, marking 87 consecutive weeks of gains. This is the longest period of increases on record, and the pace of growth also picked up again after slowing for five consecutive weeks. Analysts say rising jeonse costs and lending restrictions have concentrated buying demand in areas on the outskirts of Seoul, keeping the city’s home price gains from losing momentum.

According to weekly apartment price data for the first week of October, as of October 5, released by the Korea Real Estate Board on October 8, Seoul apartment sale prices rose 0.12% from the previous week. Prices have continued to rise for 87 weeks since the first week of February 2025. This is the longest period of increases since the Board began compiling weekly data in 2012. The previous record was an 85-week run of gains from the second week of June 2020 to the first week of January 2022, during the Moon Jae-in administration.

By area, there was a clear divergence between districts in the Han River Belt and those on the outskirts of Seoul. Gangnam-gu fell 0.34% from the previous week, marking its ninth consecutive week of decline. Songpa-gu and Seocho-gu fell 0.19% and 0.27%, respectively, over the same period. In Gangnam-gu, declines were concentrated in major complexes in Apgujeong and Daechi-dong, while in Seocho-gu they were concentrated in areas with many high-priced apartments, including Banpo and Jamwon-dong. Yongsan-gu, which posted its first decline in five months last week, saw home prices fall another 0.01% this week, extending the decline to two consecutive weeks. These four districts were the only ones among Seoul’s 25 autonomous districts to record declines.

By contrast, home prices continued to rise on the outskirts of Seoul. Seodaemun-gu posted the largest increase among the 25 districts, rising 0.36% from the previous week. It was followed by Gangbuk-gu (0.35%), Geumcheon-gu (0.34%), Gwanak-gu (0.33%) and Dobong-gu (0.32%). In particular, Gangbuk-gu, Dobong-gu, Geumcheon-gu and Gwanak-gu helped drive the overall gains, with their rates of increase accelerating from the previous week.

Apartments in downtown Seoul viewed from Namsan. (Yonhap News)

Jeonse prices also showed a trend of gains being driven by areas on the outskirts of Seoul. Seoul apartment jeonse prices rose 0.16% over the same period, maintaining the same rate of increase for the second consecutive week.

By district, Seongbuk-gu and Seongdong-gu each rose 0.31%, followed by Nowon-gu at 0.30% and Dobong-gu at 0.29%. Guro-gu gained 0.28%. Among the three Gangnam districts, Gangnam-gu fell 0.02%, with jeonse prices turning lower again after two weeks. Seocho-gu fell 0.21%, extending its decline to eight consecutive weeks. Songpa-gu rose 0.17%.

An expert forecast that areas on the outskirts of Seoul would continue to lead home price gains for the time being. Ham Youngjin, head of the Real Estate Research Lab in Woori Bank’s WM Sales Strategy Department, said, “With few homes available for jeonse and sale prices high, young people are using first-time homebuyer loans to make purchases, pushing up home prices on the outskirts of Seoul.” He added, “However, the impact of rising mortgage rates, combined with fatigue from accumulated home price increases, could lead to a more moderate phase of growth next year.”

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