Seoul Apartment Prices Rise for 88th Consecutive Week… Yongsan Also Turns Upward

Breaking records continuously since the Moon administration
Rising for 2 weeks despite weakness in Gangnam 3-gu
Semiconductor belt in southern Gyeonggi Province also shows strength
Seoul apartment prices have risen for 88 consecutive weeks, breaking the record for the longest continuous increase ever, and the pace of growth has expanded for the second consecutive week. While the Gangnam 3-gu (Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa) area, which is concentrated with ultra-high-priced housing, continued its weakness, the upward trend in the "Han River Belt," including Yongsan-gu, as well as the northern and southwestern areas, bolstered the overall rise in Seoul. The upward trend in housing prices is also spreading to southern Gyeonggi Province and surrounding areas, which are within the influence of Samsung Electronics' employee housing loans.
According to the "Second Week of October Weekly Apartment Price Trends (as of the 12th)" released by the Korea Real Estate Board on the 15th, Seoul apartment sales prices rose by 0.16% compared to the previous week. The growth rate has increased for two consecutive weeks, following 0.09% on the 28th of last month and 0.12% on the 5th of this month. Having risen for 88 consecutive weeks since the first week of February last year, it continues to set new records after surpassing the longest continuous increase record (85 weeks) from the Moon Jae-in administration.
The Real Estate Board stated, "While downward transactions appeared due to the release of some downwardly adjusted listings, sales prices rose centered on highly preferred large-scale complexes, small-to-medium-sized units, and areas near subway stations, leading to an overall increase in Seoul."
In the Gangnam 3-gu area, Seocho-gu (-0.27%) showed the same decline as the previous week, while Gangnam-gu (-0.34% → -0.35%) and Songpa-gu (-0.19% → -0.21%) slightly expanded their decline, all continuing their weakness.
On the other hand, Yongsan-gu (0.03%), which had declined for the past two weeks, turned upward for the first time in three weeks, and the Han River Belt areas, including Seongdong-gu (0.09% → 0.12%), Mapo-gu (0.22% → 0.26%), and Dongjak-gu (0.02% → 0.09%), generally expanded their growth rates.
Areas with mid-to-low range housing prices, such as Jungnang-gu (0.42%), Seongbuk-gu (0.41%), Seodaemun-gu (0.40%), Dobong-gu (0.39%), Nowon-gu (0.37%), Geumcheon-gu (0.36%), and Guro-gu (0.34%), also continued their strength.
Gyeonggi Province (0.18% → 0.26%) saw an increased growth rate due to steep price rises in some areas of the southern region.
Bundang-gu in Seongnam-si recorded a high growth rate of 0.79%, and strength was observed in many areas including the "semiconductor belt," such as Gunpo-si (0.72%), Yeongtong-gu in Suwon-si (0.69%), Dongtan-gu in Hwaseong-si (0.66%), and Uiwang-si (0.60%). Dongtan-gu's cumulative growth rate for this year (20.14%) has exceeded 20%.
Incheon rose by 0.03%, and the entire metropolitan area rose by 0.20%.
Nam Hyeok-woo, a real estate researcher at Woori Bank, said, "As price overheating continues in the southern Gyeonggi region centered on Suwon, a 'price leveling' phenomenon is occurring in nearby areas. The influx of buying funds starting from Suwon is spreading to surrounding areas, which could lead to a trend where housing prices in the metropolitan area, including Seoul, do not easily fall."