New apartment prices in Korea soar on cement price hikes

[Photo by Yonhap]

The price of new apartments in South Korea is on a sharp rise as prices of construction materials go up.

According to the cement industry on Sunday, Korean cement company Sungshin Cement Co. recently informed concrete mixers that it will raise the price of type-one bulk cement by 14.3 percent to 120,000 won ($91.6) per ton starting in July.

The move comes after industry leader Ssangyong C&E Co. announced it will raise the same product price by 14.1 percent from 104,800 won per ton to 119,600 won from July.

Observers note that the remaining five cement manufacturers are likely to join in the trend.

The surge in construction materials prices, in the meantime, is leading to higher prices of new apartments across the country.

The price of a new 84-square-meter apartment in Gwangju Metropolitan City, for example, reaches up to 929 million won, which is 28 million won per pyong (3.3 square meters).

According to real estate portal Real Estate R114, the average price of a new apartment this year is 17.53 million won per pyong, up 15.3 percent from 15.21 million won last year, despite the weak presale housing market.