Apartment prices drop across the country including Seoul

Various housing types are seen in downtown Seoul from the Seoul Sky Observatory at Lotte Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul. / Reporter Lee Jun-heon

Housing sales prices across the country, including Seoul, turned downward last month. This is the first time since May last year that Seoul’s housing prices have fallen month-on-month. In particular, Seocho-gu also saw a decline in housing prices, shaking the ascendancy of the “Undefeated Gangnam.”

According to the data released by the Korea Real Estate Institute on January 15, the national sales price index hit -0.10 percent last month as those of Seoul (from 0.10 percent to -0.07 percent), the Seoul metropolitan area (from 0.06 percent to -0.14 percent), and other provinces (from 0.02 percent to -0.07 percent) all fell.

Seoul, which maintained a steady upward trend after recording 0.05 percent in June last year, turned downward for the first time in seven months. In particular, apartments (-0.13 percent) fell sharply compared to row houses (-0.04 percent) and detached houses (0.21 percent). This seems to be because apartment prices have been stable recently as transactions have been made mainly for urgent sales.

Of the14 districts in Gangbuk, Nowon-gu (-0.22 percent) and Dobong-gu (-0.14 percent) saw the largest declines, falling by 0.14 percentage points and 0.12 percentage points, respectively, from the previous month. Sanggye Jugong 11 Apartment (41㎡) traded at 395 million won, down 200 million won from the previous reported price of 585 million won in January 2022.

The Gangnam area also saw a drop in prices, including Seocho-gu which recorded -0.13 percent. This was due to a drop in apartment prices mainly in Yangjae, Jamwon, and Banpo-dong. Seocho Banpo Riche apartment (84.972㎡, on the 16th floor) was traded at 2.965 billion won last month.

This is a slight decrease compared to three months ago, when a similar apartment (on the 19th floor) in the same complex sold for 3 billion won. Housing prices also fell in metropolitan areas other than Gwangju, such as Busan (-0.29 percent) and Daegu (-0.23 percent).

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.