The amount of domestic commercial real estate investment in the first half of this year was approximately 15 trillion won.
On the 28th, CBRE Korea, a global comprehensive real estate service corporations, announced in its "2025 Q2 report on the domestic commercial real estate market" that the investment size in the second quarter reached 7.1143 trillion won, surpassing 7 trillion won for two consecutive quarters following the first quarter’s 7.0553 trillion won. Accordingly, the accumulated investment in the first half has exceeded 70% of last year's annual investment size.
Of the total investment size in the second quarter, 6.6117 trillion won, accounting for 85%, was concentrated in office assets, driving the market. Among these, there were 11 transactions exceeding 100 billion won (approximately 5.5 trillion won), with major transactions involving urban and Gangnam-area assets such as SI Tower, KDB Life Tower, Crescendo, and BNK Digital Tower. The acquisitions of corporate offices by strategic investors, including CJ Group (KDB Life Tower, CJ CheilJedang Center), Hyundai Motor (Scale Tower), and Bithumb (Gangnam N Tower), also contributed to the increase in investment size.
The average vacancy rate in the A-grade office market in Seoul is at 2.7%, the same level as the previous quarter. The Gangnam area (1.7%) and Yeouido area (2.8%) decreased by 0.4 percentage points and 0.2 percentage points, respectively, continuing a stable trend. In contrast, the central area saw an increase of 0.5 percentage points; however, the increase in vacancy rates of other assets offset the situation for prime offices.
In the Gangnam area, demand from finance and information technology (IT) corporations for relocation has actively emerged, rapidly resolving vacancies in major prime offices. The Magok area is strengthening its position as an emerging business district as demand from the aviation and finance sectors, including DL Group, continues.
In the second quarter, the transaction size of logistics assets was 296.7 billion won, a decrease of 84% compared to the previous quarter. This appears to be a base effect resulting from the concentration of pre-purchases and transactions involving non-performing loans (NPL) in the first quarter. In the second half of the year, a rebound in transaction size led by foreign investors is anticipated. On the supply side, new supply of A-grade logistics centers in the metropolitan area has recorded a quarterly low of 168,614 square meters since 2019. The vacancy rate for the first half is 20.4%, down 2.5 percentage points from the end of last year.
The hotel market is observed to have robust investment demand, driven by the recovery of foreign tourism demand, supply constraints, and rising development expenses. In the second quarter, Goldman Sachs acquired the Mercure Ambassador Hongdae Hotel for 262 billion won, marking its first hotel investment in Korea. Shinhan Seobu T&D REIT also purchased Shilla Stay Mapo for 143 billion won.
Choi Su-hye, the head of research at CBRE Korea, noted, "The second quarter of the commercial real estate market saw the simultaneous emergence of actual demand from strategic investors and selective approaches from foreign capital, solidifying the recovery trend." He added, "In the second half, stability in interest rates is expected due to easing monetary policy; however, significant variations in yields will occur for a while, depending on the asset type and investor disposition."