Three out of Ten Non-Apartment Houses in Seoul Purchased by Non-Residents

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] This year, it was found that 3 out of 10 non-apartment houses, including multi-family, row houses, multi-household, and single-family homes in Seoul, were purchased by non-locals.

On the 31st, real estate platform Dabang analyzed the semi-annual proportion of non-local non-apartment purchases in Seoul from 2017 based on data from the Korea Real Estate Board. According to the results, this proportion steadily increased from 18.7% in the first half of 2017 to 31.2% in the first half of this year.

In particular, Dobong-gu surged from 16.4% in the first half of 2017 to 44.3% in the first half of this year. During the same period, Guro-gu rose from 32.4% to 40.2%, Yangcheon-gu from 17.4% to 39.4%, Gangseo-gu from 17.7% to 39.3%, Yongsan-gu from 31.3% to 38.3%, and Gwanak-gu from 16.9% to 36.5%.

This is interpreted as non-local investors, who anticipate further increases in Seoul housing prices, investing in redevelopment projects, which are relatively less regulated compared to reconstruction. The ongoing shortage of housing supply in Seoul and Mayor Oh Se-hoon's positive stance on urban renewal projects suggest that interest in redevelopment projects is inevitably increasing.

Mayor Oh announced last May that various regulations related to redevelopment would be eased to supply 240,000 housing units by 2025. On the other hand, reconstruction projects are still subject to stricter regulations such as enhanced safety inspection standards and the excess profit recovery system, which are stronger than those for redevelopment.

Areas in Seoul with a high proportion of non-locals are also actively conducting redevelopment projects recently. In Dobong-gu, Dobong 2 District received management disposition approval last March, and Ssangmun 1 District is proceeding with a city public housing complex project. In Yangcheon-gu, redevelopment projects are expected mainly around Sinwol-dong, and Gocheok 4 District in Guro-gu obtained management disposition approval last June. Gwanak-gu is also promoting public redevelopment in Bongcheon 13 District.

A Dabang official explained, "Due to the aftereffects of the apartment price surge, demand for villa purchases is increasing, and investment demand targeting redevelopment is also pouring in, attracting non-locals to the villa market."

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