Seoul Apartment Price Gains Slow... Up for 90th Straight Week

Korea Real Estate Board: Weekly Apartment Price Trends for the Fourth Week of October

The pace of apartment price increases in Seoul slowed for the second consecutive week. The slowdown came as prices softened in areas that had driven the gains, while declines in the Gangnam area deepened. In Gyeonggi Province, prices rose sharply in Gunpo and Suwon's Yeongtong-gu.

According to weekly apartment price trend data released by the Korea Real Estate Board on October 29, the apartment sales price index in Seoul rose 0.09% in the fourth week of October (October 26), compared with the previous week. After recording a 0.16% increase in mid-October (October 12), the rate of increase eased to 0.13% on October 19 and edged down again this week.

Declines in Seoul's Gangnam area have continued for more than two months, and the pace of decline is picking up again. Prices fell 0.38% in Gangnam-gu and 0.35% in Seocho-gu from the previous week, marking 12 consecutive weeks of declines. Songpa-gu fell 0.22%, extending its decline to eight consecutive weeks. Seongbuk-gu, Seodaemun-gu and Jongno-gu recorded relatively high rates of increase. Seoul as a whole posted gains for the 90th consecutive week.

A property listing notice at a real estate agency in Seoul. Yonhap News Agency

The Korea Real Estate Board explained, "Sales prices fell as properties were listed at lower prices in some areas and in complexes pursuing reconstruction, while transactions at higher prices took place in popular complexes with solid demand. As a result, price increases and declines are mixed across different areas."

In Gyeonggi Province, prices continued to rise as buying demand concentrated in areas supported by certain companies or industries. The sales price indices for Suwon's Yeongtong-gu and Gunpo each rose 0.58% from the previous week. Yeongtong-gu is home to Samsung Electronics' headquarters, and market observers believe that increased liquidity from performance bonuses and in-house loans is pushing up home prices. Gunpo's gains are attributed to a combination of relatively low home prices despite its good access to Seoul and expectations for reconstruction. Among metropolitan-level local governments, Sejong recorded a 0.10% increase, the second-highest rate after Gyeonggi Province (0.20%).

The rate of increase in apartment lease prices was also similar to last week. Prices rose 0.17% in Seoul and 0.18% in Gyeonggi Province, similar to the previous week. In Seoul, Dobong-gu (0.34%), Dongdaemun-gu (0.32%) and Seongbuk-gu (0.31%) recorded relatively high rates of increase.

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