This Year’s Nationwide Officetel Sale Prices: Small to Medium Units Down, Medium to Large Units Up

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] This year, the nationwide officetel sale prices show a deepening price differentiation phenomenon, with small to medium-sized units (40㎡ or less) declining, while medium to large-sized units (over 40㎡) are rising.

On the 15th, the Commercial Information Research Institute, a research and development company specializing in income-generating real estate, analyzed statistics from the Korea Appraisal Board and found that the nationwide officetel sale price index was 99.6 in January this year. The index for February decreased by 0.08 percentage points from the previous month to 99.52, and in March, it further declined by 0.03 percentage points to 99.49.

Looking at the changes by area size, the index fluctuations appeared differently. The nationwide small to medium-sized officetel sale price index was 98.8 in January, dropping by 0.1 percentage points to 98.7 in February compared to January. In March, it further declined by 0.1 percentage points to 98.6 compared to February, showing a downward trend. However, the sale price index for officetels over 40㎡ started at 101.4 in January and rose consecutively for two months to 101.5 in February and 101.6 in March.

By region, the area with the largest decline in the officetel sale price index compared to January last month was Gyeonggi, which fell by 0.36 percentage points. This was followed by ▲Incheon (-0.33 percentage points), ▲Ulsan (-0.25 percentage points), ▲Busan (-0.22 percentage points), ▲Gwangju (-0.21 percentage points), and ▲Daegu (-0.08 percentage points). The only regions where the officetel sale price index rose compared to January last month were Seoul, which increased by 0.15 percentage points, and Daejeon, which rose by 0.02 percentage points.

Researcher Hyuntaek Cho of the Commercial Information Research Institute said, "There were expectations that officetels would benefit from a balloon effect due to residential real estate regulations such as loans and subscription systems, but the recent officetel pre-sale rates were low, and transaction volumes also declined compared to last year." He added, "However, for high-priced officetels, since there is no need for investigation of the source of funds, transactions and interest have increased, and recently, demand for larger officetels intended for actual residence has been rising."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.