Seoul Residents' Apartment Purchases in Gyeonggi Hit 4-Year High Despite Expansion of Regulated Zones [Real Estate A to Z]

Seven in 10 August apartment purchases were in non-regulated areas

Transactions fell in Guri and Dongtan but rose in Gunpo, Uijeongbu and Incheon

Home prices rose in regulated Dongtan and Giheung despite fewer transactions

Despite the expansion of measures placing major areas of Gyeonggi Province under regulatory restrictions, the share of Seoul residents buying apartments in Gyeonggi reached a four-year high. Analysts say that speculative buying has spread to unregulated areas of Gyeonggi after rules blocked buyers from purchasing homes with tenants paying jeonse deposits in popular residential areas of Seoul and Gyeonggi.

According to apartment transaction data broken down by buyers' places of residence from the Korea Real Estate Board on October 21, Seoul residents accounted for 15.7% of the 127,537 apartment transactions in Gyeonggi from January through August 2026, up 2.8 percentage points from 12.9% in the same period of 2025. The number of transactions surged 47.4%, from 13,555 to 19,986.

Looking only at the January-August period, the share was the highest in four years, since 2022, when it stood at 17.1%. The figure for August 2026 alone was the highest in four years and three months, since May 2022, when it was 18.3%. The figures are based on the buyers' registered addresses listed on real estate transaction reports.

Through its October 15 measures in 2025, the government designated all of Seoul and 12 major areas in Gyeonggi as regulated areas. In the 10 months following the measures, from November 2025 through August 2026, the number of apartments bought by Seoul residents in the 12 regulated areas of Gyeonggi fell 7.8% compared with the preceding 10 months. By contrast, purchases in the remaining unregulated areas of Gyeonggi rose 58.6% over the same period.

The trend was particularly pronounced in areas that had been changed from unregulated to regulated. In the first half of 2026, Seoul residents bought 968 apartments in Guri, up 188.1% from the same period a year earlier. In Giheung-gu, Yongin, purchases rose 144.0% to 532. Dongtan-gu in Hwaseong, which was established as a general district in February 2026, also recorded 383 transactions from February through June.

However, after the government additionally designated Guri, Giheung-gu in Yongin, and Dongtan-gu in Hwaseong as land transaction permit zones in late July 2026, the number of apartments bought by Seoul residents in these areas fell by half.

Instead, the share of transactions in the 32 unregulated areas among Gyeonggi's 47 cities, counties, and districts, excluding the 15 regulated areas, rose from 55.1% in May-June 2026 to 65.3% in July-August.

Purchases increased most in unregulated areas bordering regulated areas or with redevelopment projects and transportation development plans.

In Gunpo, which borders the regulated areas of Dongan-gu in Anyang and Uiwang, purchases by Seoul residents rose 32.0% in July-August compared with the previous two months. Gunpo is where reconstruction of Sanbon New Town, one of the first-generation new towns, is underway. Transactions also increased in Wonmi-gu, Bucheon (20.4%), and Uijeongbu (16.3%), both adjacent to Seoul.

Purchases in Yangju, where an extension of Subway Line 7 and the Capital Area Great Train Express (GTX)-C line are being pursued, also rose 21.7%. Purchases in Gwonseon-gu, the only unregulated area in Suwon, increased 22.9% as well.

Purchases also rose sharply in percentage terms in Cheoin-gu, Yongin (58.1%), next to Dongtan-gu and Giheung-gu, and in Osan (54.5%). However, the base effect played a role, as the previous transaction volumes were low, at 31 and 22, respectively.

Purchases by Seoul residents also increased in Incheon, which is not a regulated area. Of the 22,474 apartment transactions in Incheon from January through August 2026, Seoul residents accounted for 9.9%, the highest share in four years, since 2022. The number of purchases rose 40.4% to 2,224.

Ham Youngjin, head of Woori Bank's Real Estate Research Lab, said, "Unregulated areas are not designated as adjustment target areas, so owners of multiple homes do not face the heavy capital gains tax surcharge, and they are not land transaction permit zones either. This allows buyers to purchase homes with tenants paying jeonse deposits. If a buyer purchased a home with a tenant in place rather than for the purpose of living there, the demand should be seen as driven by expectations of capital gains."

Home prices in regulated areas continued to rise despite a decline in transactions. From July through September 2026, apartment prices in Dongtan-gu, Hwaseong, rose 6.16%. Over the same period, prices also increased in Giheung-gu, Yongin (5.97%), and Guri (3.50%).

Son Jaeyoung, an emeritus professor in the Department of Real Estate at Konkuk University, said, "Even when transactions decline in regulated areas, sellers hold out without listing their properties because they expect prices to rise further. Instead of containing home prices in the areas already covered, regulations keep producing a balloon effect by pushing buying demand into neighboring areas."

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