Despite the recent activation of peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms for individual transactions, direct transactions in the dwellings sale market have significantly decreased. An analysis of sales contracts for officetels, multi-family homes, and apartments nationwide from 2022 to the first quarter of 2025, based on data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, conducted by the real estate brokerage firm ZipToss, revealed that the proportion of direct transactions has continued to decline.
According to ZipToss, the proportion of direct transactions in nationwide dwellings sale contracts for the first quarter of this year was reported at 12.5%. While the direct transaction ratio reached 21.6% in 2022, it decreased to 15.4% in 2023 and fell to 14.0% last year.
By dwelling type, the proportion of direct transactions for apartments as of the first quarter of 2025 was recorded at 8.5% nationwide and 2.9% in Seoul. The direct transaction ratio for Seoul apartments was higher than the national average at 16.2% in 2022, but sharply dropped to 7.0% in 2023 and 4.3% in 2024, plummeting to 2.9% in the first quarter of 2025. This figure is significantly lower than the national average for direct transactions of apartments (8.5%) and other dwelling types, indicating that direct transactions in the Seoul apartment market have nearly disappeared.
Multi-family homes maintained a relatively high direct transaction rate of 27.2%, while officetels stood at 30.7%. This tendency reflects that in the case of apartments, especially high-end apartments concentrated in Seoul, larger transaction amounts and complexities regarding rights and tax issues lead to a greater preference for secure transactions through licensed brokers rather than direct transactions between individuals.
In terms of transaction amounts, the direct transaction rate for contracts exceeding 400 million won was 14.1% in 2022, but significantly dropped to 6.6% in 2023, then decreased to 5.6% in 2024, and reached 5.5% in the first quarter of 2025. This figure is more than half lower than the overall direct transaction rate of 12.5% in all sales contracts in the first quarter of 2025. This suggests that as transaction amounts increase, both buyers and sellers tend to seek professional assistance for secure transactions due to heightened concerns about potential risks.
Lee Jae-yoon, CEO of ZipToss, said, "While accessibility to information through platforms has increased unprecedentedly, paradoxically, the inherent risks and complexities of real estate transactions, which are high-asset transactions, have also come to the fore. Particularly for apartments, which have larger transaction amounts and are sensitive to market volatility, concerns about failure expenses grow, making it a rational choice to opt for transactions that ensure professionalism and safety rather than direct transactions."