Seoul Average Apartment Prices Surpass 1.5 Billion Won in Gangnam and 1 Billion Won in Gangbuk

KB Real Estate, February Average Apartment Price Exceeds 1.2 Billion KRW in Seoul and 800 Million KRW in Metropolitan Area

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] The average apartment prices in Seoul's Gangnam and Gangbuk areas have each surpassed 1.5 billion KRW and 1 billion KRW, respectively.

According to the monthly housing market trend time series statistics from KB Kookmin Bank on the 28th, the average apartment sale prices in the Gangnam area (11 districts south of the Han River) and Seoul's Gangbuk area (14 districts north of the Han River) recorded 1.5121 billion KRW and 1.0487 billion KRW, respectively, exceeding 1.5 billion KRW and 1 billion KRW for the first time.

The apartment prices in the Gangnam area first exceeded 1 billion KRW in August 2019, then rose by 200 million KRW to 1.20356 billion KRW in September 2020, a year later. Six months later, in March last year (1.305 billion KRW), prices surpassed 1.3 billion KRW, and another six months later, in September last year (1.4298 billion KRW), they exceeded 1.4 billion KRW. Five months later, this month (1.5121 billion KRW), prices crossed the 1.5 billion KRW threshold, which is the limit for housing mortgage loans being fully prohibited.

The average apartment price in the Gangbuk area first surpassed the high-priced housing benchmark of 900 million KRW in June last year (902.9 million KRW), and eight months later, this month (1.0487 billion KRW), it rose by 100 million KRW to exceed 1 billion KRW for the first time.

The average apartment sale price across all of Seoul recorded 1.26891 billion KRW this month. The average apartment price in the metropolitan area, including Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon, surpassed 800 million KRW this month, reaching 801.95 million KRW.

In the provinces, the average apartment price in the five major metropolitan cities (Daejeon, Daegu, Busan, Ulsan, Gwangju), where price increases have been relatively large, entered the 400 million KRW range at 402.48 million KRW.

Nationwide, the apartment sales and jeonse (long-term lease) markets are showing the most severe polarization ever.

This month, the nationwide apartment 5-quintile ratio was recorded at 10.0 for sales and 7.8 for jeonse. Nationwide, apartments in the top 20% price bracket are 10.0 times higher in sales price and 7.8 times higher in jeonse price than those in the bottom 20%. This is the highest figure since the related monthly survey began in December 2008.

The 5-quintile ratio divides housing prices into five equal parts and calculates the ratio of the average price of the top 20% (5th quintile) to the average price of the bottom 20% (1st quintile). It indicates the price gap between high-priced and low-priced housing, with a higher ratio meaning more severe polarization.

This month, the average apartment price for the bottom 20% nationwide was 123.42 million KRW, down 650,000 KRW from last month, while the average price for the top 20% was 1.23639 billion KRW, up 23.07 million KRW.

During the same period, the jeonse price for the bottom 20% of apartments nationwide fell by 50,000 KRW from last month to 88.03 million KRW, whereas the jeonse price for the top 20% rose by 13.04 million KRW to reach 690.13 million KRW.

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