"No Active Buyers These Days"... Seoul Apartments Piling Up on the Market

Increase in Apartment Listings Across All Districts in Seoul
Seoul Sales Supply-Demand Index Hits Lowest in 6 Months
"Buyers Lack Enthusiasm... No Calls Received"

Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

"As the asking prices keep rising, the number of people wanting to buy houses has sharply decreased. There are no active buyers. The volume of transactions is only about 20-30% compared to the beginning of the year." (Representative of A Real Estate Agency, Gasan-dong, Seoul)

The apartment buying sentiment in Seoul is weakening. As homeowners' asking prices soar to unprecedented levels, the perception that "I can't buy at this price" has spread. Recently, with the government's loan regulations overlapping, the buying demand is shrinking even more. Frontline real estate agents unanimously said, "There are almost no calls related to buying these days," describing it as a "practically frozen market."

According to the weekly apartment price trend by the Korea Real Estate Board on the 23rd, the Seoul apartment sales demand-supply index for this week (as of the 18th) was recorded at 101.6, down 0.3 points from the previous week (101.9). This index indicates that when it exceeds the baseline of 100, buyers outnumber sellers.

The Seoul sales demand-supply index has been steadily declining since it recorded 107.9 in the first week of August. It has fallen for six consecutive weeks since the first week of last month (107.2). This means that the buying demand for houses is weakening. In particular, this week's index is the lowest in about six months since the third week of April (101.1).

Industry experts analyze that the government's strengthened household loan regulations and the spread of the perception of a "housing price peak" have significantly dampened buying sentiment. Therefore, there is also speculation that the housing prices, which had been soaring, have reached a turning point and are beginning to decline.

Although asking prices have not dropped significantly yet, some transactions at lower prices have occurred in certain complexes, suggesting that the atmosphere could reverse soon.

The representative of B Real Estate Agency near Hyundai Celebrity Apartments in Guro-dong, Guro-gu, said, "As loans have started to be blocked, buyers seem to have turned cautious," adding, "There are occasional inquiries, but no active interest."

According to the real estate big data company 'Apartment Real Transaction Price,' the number of apartment listings has increased in all 25 autonomous districts of Seoul over the past month. Particularly, listings have increased significantly in Yongsan-gu (31.4%), Jungnang-gu (31.2%), Gangseo-gu (28.4%), Gwangjin-gu (28.2%), and Nowon-gu (27.7%). Even districts with lower growth rates, such as Seongdong-gu (10.5%) and Gangnam-gu (12.7%), are showing an increasing trend in supply.

There is an opinion that the buying demand has struggled to keep up as asking prices have jumped by over a hundred million won compared to early this year due to expectations of rising house prices. Homeowners also largely believe that various real estate regulations may be eased around the March presidential election next year, so they are reluctant to lower asking prices. Frontline real estate agents said, "Urgent homeowners have mostly sold during the tax increase grace period, so there are not many urgent sale listings these days," adding, "The atmosphere is still one of holding out."

Among experts, opinions differ regarding the 'turning point' of Seoul apartment prices. Some believe that as the market enters the winter off-season, the rate of increase will continue to slow until next spring, followed by a full-scale correction starting next year or the year after. However, many also argue that due to a decrease in new housing supply and instability in jeonse (long-term deposit lease) prices, apartment prices will continue to rise.

An industry insider said, "Although the rate of apartment price increases has been decreasing recently, it is premature to predict the market based on one or two months of data," adding, "We need to observe the atmosphere at least until the end of the year."

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