Last year, the average apartment sale price in the country surpassed the average selling price for the first time in 15 years since 2009.

Trends in national apartment sale and transaction prices. /Courtesy of Real Estate R114

According to Real Estate R114 on the 24th, the average apartment sale price per 3.3 square meters in 2024 is recorded at 20.63 million won nationwide and 48.20 million won in Seoul, while the average apartment selling price is surveyed at 19.18 million won nationwide and 43 million won in Seoul. In Seoul, the sale price of apartments exceeded the market price for the first time in six years since 2018.

Compared to the market price, the level of sale price is 1.45 million won in the country and 5.2 million won in Seoul. In terms of the so-called "national standard size" of 84 square meters, last year's average apartment sale price nationwide is approximately 50 million won higher than the market price, while the sale price of apartments in Seoul is about 170 million won higher than the market price.

With the 2023 1·3 measures, most of the regulated areas excluding the Gangnam districts and Yongsan in Seoul have been lifted, effectively deregulating the prices in private land. Especially, Real Estate R114 explained that the rise in interest rates, which began in earnest after the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the impact of troubled real estate project financing and increased procurement costs due to high construction material prices, labor costs, and logistics costs have begun to reflect in the level of sale prices.

In the case of Seoul, the sale price in 2018 was about 500,000 won higher than the market price, but after the sale price regulations intensified in 2019, the sale price fell below the market price. The sale price in 2020 was 10.12 million won lower than the market price. Subsequently, it was lower than the market price by 14.55 million won in 2021, 6.43 million won in 2022, and 5.04 million won in 2023.

Looking at the difference between last year's sale price and market price by region, Jeju had the largest gap at 12.45 million won. Ulsan (10.96 million won), Busan (9.54 million won), Gwangju (9.53 million won), and North Gyeongsang Province (8.58 million won) followed.

Real Estate R114 noted that "the possibility of sale prices dropping in the future is low. Even for public land subject to the sale price ceiling, there have been significant annual increases, as evidenced by increases of 3.1% and 3.3% in the regular announcements of base construction costs in March and September last year, respectively," it said. "Moreover, with the recent surge in exchange rates due to political turmoil, the costs of construction materials and logistics imported from abroad are also rising, so the trend of increasing sale prices in private land is expected to continue."