As Seoul leads the price increase, apartment transaction prices nationwide continued to rise. However, the Gyeonggi and Incheon areas, excluding Seoul, showed a downward trend, reducing the nationwide increase in transaction prices.

A view of the Seoul city apartment complex from Namsan. /Courtesy of Yonhap News Agency

According to Real Estate R114, in the fourth week of this month, nationwide apartment transaction prices increased by 0.03% compared to last week. The increase compared to the previous week (0.11%) has narrowed.

Seoul increased by 0.14%, leading to a 0.07% rise in the metropolitan area. In contrast, the Gyeonggi and Incheon regions, excluding Seoul, fell by 0.01% compared to the previous week. The five major metropolitan cities recorded -0.07%, and other regions showed a decrease of -0.08%, highlighting the weakness in the provinces. Out of the 17 cities and provinces nationwide, four reported an increase while 13 experienced a decline, with declining areas prevailing.

Individual regions such as Sejong (0.30%) and Seoul (0.14%) saw increases, while Jeonbuk (-0.32%), Gangwon (-0.18%), Chungbuk (-0.16%), Gyeongnam (-0.15%), and Gyeongbuk (-0.13%) recorded declines.

Nationwide apartment lease prices rose by 0.26%. Seoul's increased by 0.30%, the metropolitan area by 0.28%, Gyeonggi-Incheon by 0.26%, five major metropolitan cities by 0.23%, and other regions by 0.15%, showing strong upward trends across all major areas. Of the 17 cities and provinces nationwide, 16 increased, while only Jeju recorded a decline of 0.13%.

Real Estate R114 noted, "It has been about a month since the apartments in the three districts of Gangnam (Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa) and Yongsan were expanded to designated areas for land transactions. Since being designated as a permit area in late March, the upward trend in apartment prices in Gangnam and Yongsan has continued, but the rate of increase has somewhat slowed. In the brokerage field, there were sporadic inquiries for purchases mainly focused on units under 84 square meters in Gangnam and Songpa, but it has been confirmed that reaching contracts has been difficult, leading to a lull in transactions. Homeowners have notably been withdrawing listings rather than lowering asking prices or hastily timing sales," they explained.

They also added, "With supply limited, apartments in the Gangnam area of Seoul have a uniqueness with no substitutes for buyers equipped with capital, so it is expected that there is little room for price declines in the future. However, given the current transaction constraints, waiting demand for entry into the Gangnam area is likely to continue to ponder decisions while monitoring the direction of the next administration's real estate policy and macroeconomic volatility."