The Widening Gap of the 'Their Own League'... The Ultra-Luxury Housing Market is Booming

Increase in Ultra-High-End Real Estate Transactions Over 135㎡
Park Hannam 12 Billion KRW · Traumhaus 18.5 Billion KRW
Officetel 'Signiel Residence' 24.5 Billion KRW

Lotte World Tower Signiel Residence Exterior

Despite the nationwide real estate market contraction, the ultra-high-end real estate market, with prices reaching tens to hundreds of billions of won, continues to show unrelenting enthusiasm.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price disclosure system on the 24th, the number of transactions for ultra-large apartments (over 135㎡) with sale prices exceeding 5 billion won this year reached 153, an increase of about 248% compared to 44 transactions last year.

The ‘Park Hannam’ apartment in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, with an exclusive area of 268.95㎡ (2nd floor), was sold for 12 billion won on the 13th, setting a record as the most expensive apartment in Korea. This apartment has been setting new record prices with each transaction: 10 billion won in August, 10.8 billion won in September, and 11.7 billion won in November.

In addition to apartments, ultra-high-priced transactions have also been appearing continuously in multi-family houses and officetels. The multi-family house ‘Traumhaus5’ in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, with an exclusive area of 273.64㎡, set a new highest price record at 18.5 billion won on September 16. In 2008, the same unit in the complex was traded at 12.0755 billion won, which was the highest price at the time, meaning it has increased by about 6.5 billion won in approximately 13 years.

On the 4th of last month, an officetel ‘Lotte World Tower and Lotte World Mall’ (Signiel Residence) in Sincheon-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, with an exclusive area of 489.79㎡ (68th floor), was sold for 24.5 billion won. Since the disclosure of actual transaction prices began in 2006, this is the highest price ever recorded for officetels as well as for all types of multi-family housing (apartments, multi-family houses, and row houses).

The demand for comfortable and private living spaces has increased due to the impact of COVID-19 and other factors, and the government’s stringent regulations have accelerated this phenomenon through the ‘smart one-house’ strategy. Additionally, the recent increase in single- and two-person households and the reduction in supply of large-sized units have highlighted the scarcity and investment value of such properties. For apartments, the proportion of medium to large units over 85㎡ among annual move-in volumes has gradually decreased from 34% in 2010 to the 8% range for the first time in 2016, and has remained around 7% since then.

An industry insider said, "Due to the decrease in supply of large-sized units, the scarcity of medium and especially ultra-large units has increased, and after the pandemic, the preference for spacious and comfortable living environments has grown, which seems to have increased demand accordingly."

Meanwhile, according to KB Real Estate’s housing price trends, the average sale price of apartments in Seoul with an exclusive area over 135㎡ increased by about 1 billion won over four years, from 1.47153 billion won in May 2017, when the Moon Jae-in administration began, to 2.47301 billion won last October.

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