Record High Housing Transactions in Sejong in August Amid 'Cheondoron'... 462% Increase Year-on-Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The volume of housing transactions in Sejong City, which had been stirring since the beginning of the year, is rising even more steeply due to the 'Sejong Relocation Theory.' As the political circles mentioned the plan to relocate the administrative capital to Sejong to curb apartment prices in Seoul, the Sejong housing market is heating up.

On the 23rd, Economic Man Lab, a real estate information provider, examined the monthly transaction volume from the Korea Real Estate Board and found that last month, the number of housing sales transactions in Sejong City reached 2,164. This is the highest monthly transaction volume since the statistics began in July 2012. Compared to August of last year, real estate transactions surged by a whopping 462.1%.

It was also confirmed that the proportion of purchases by outsiders in Sejong housing acquisitions decreased, while the proportion of purchases by insiders increased. In July alone, insiders' housing purchases in Sejong were 914 transactions, accounting for about 54.9%, but in August, insiders bought 1,565 units, pushing their purchase share to 72.3%, surpassing 70% for the first time ever.

Conversely, the proportion of housing purchases by outsiders in Sejong dropped significantly. In July, outsiders purchased 752 homes, accounting for 45.1%, but in August, they bought 599 units, reducing their share to 27.7%.

The surge in Sejong housing transactions is due to the rapid rise in apartment prices. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price statistics system, the ‘Garak Village 20 Complex (Hoban Verdiem 5th Phase)’ 84㎡ (exclusive area) located in Goun-dong, Sejong City, was traded at 300 million KRW (19th floor) in September last year, but this month it was traded at 695 million KRW (14th floor), rising by 395 million KRW over one year. The ‘Gajae Village 4 Complex (Centreville)’ 74㎡ located in Jongchon-dong was traded at 277 million KRW (10th floor) last September, but this month it was contracted at 580 million KRW, increasing by 302 million KRW over one year. The ‘Daewoo Prugio (10th Complex)’ 84㎡ located in Areum-dong was traded at 339 million KRW (11th floor) last September, but this month it changed hands at 690 million KRW (14th floor), rising by 351 million KRW over one year.

Oh Daeyeol, head of the research team at Economic Man Lab, said, “Sejong City’s housing prices had been on the rise due to development benefits such as the Seoul-Sejong Expressway (scheduled to open in 2024) and the Sejong Joint Campus (scheduled for completion in 2022). However, since the ruling party raised the relocation theory in July, the upward trend in housing prices has become even steeper.”

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