'Office Relocation' Yongsan, Listings Have Disappeared

From the Day After the Election, Listings Plummet... Seoul Records the Highest Decline at -4.3%
Only 5 Apartment Transaction Reports This Month... Anticipation Grows for Park Development Project Progress

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is holding a press conference on the relocation of the Blue House presidential office to the Yongsan Ministry of National Defense building at the press conference room of the Presidential Transition Committee set up in the annex of the Korea Financial Training Institute in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 20th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Gang-wook] In Yongsan, Seoul, where the presidential office will be located, homeowners are withdrawing their listings. Opinions are divided on whether the relocation of the presidential office is a positive or negative factor for real estate prices, but for now, the market shows stronger signs of viewing it as a 'price booster.'

According to data from the real estate big data platform Asil on the 22nd, there are 882 apartment listings in Yongsan-gu as of that day. Compared to 921 listings on the 10th, the day after the presidential election, this is a 4.3% (39 listings) decrease. This is the largest decrease among the 25 autonomous districts of Seoul during the same period. As listings have decreased, apartment transaction volumes in Yongsan-gu have also significantly shrunk. From the 1st to the 22nd of this month, only 5 sales were reported, ranking 18th among the 25 districts.

The head of real estate agency A in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, said, "The relocation of the presidential office is being seen as a positive factor, and expectations are growing that Yongsan will become the political hotspot," adding, "If there are 10 listings, about 4 of them are being withdrawn." Another positive factor related to the office relocation is the development of Yongsan Park. The development of Yongsan Park has been stagnant for over a decade, and under the current administration, there was even a proposal to build rental apartments on the site. However, with the opening of the 'Yongsan era' following the presidential office relocation, there is growing anticipation that the park development project will accelerate.

Lee Eun-hyung, senior researcher at the Korea Construction Policy Institute, stated, "Basically, the relocation of major government offices is a positive factor for the area," and added, "The plan to build 100,000 rental apartments on the Yongsan base site has been scrapped, and the acceleration of Yongsan Park's creation is also a major positive factor."

However, concerns about additional regulations still remain. Although President-elect Yoon emphasized at a press conference on the 20th that "there will be no additional regulations even if the Blue House relocates," there is still a possibility of added restrictions in areas immediately adjacent to the Ministry of National Defense for reasons such as presidential security.

The head of real estate agency B near Samgakji Station said, "There is concern that regulations might not be documented yet but could be imposed after the office moves in. The general atmosphere is that we need to observe the situation a bit longer."

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