Seoul Residents Who Bought Houses in Gyeonggi-do Reach 'Highest' in 12 Years

Accounts for 17.34% of total transactions
Relocation demand rises due to soaring house prices
6 out of 10 people leaving Seoul move to Gyeonggi-do

The volume of apartment sales in Seoul has turned to an upward trend for the first time in eight months. According to the Seoul Real Estate Information Plaza, the number of sales transactions in Seoul in March was 937, a 16.4% increase compared to the previous month (805 transactions). This marks a rebound after seven consecutive months of decline from August last year (4,064 transactions) through February this year (805 transactions). It appears that the market, which had been frozen due to expectations of regulatory easing, is beginning to breathe again. A view of apartments from Namsan on the 11th. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] The proportion of Seoul residents purchasing apartments in Gyeonggi Province last year reached its highest level in 12 years. Amid soaring housing prices in Seoul and rising loan interest rates, there has been an increasing demand for moving out of Seoul to Gyeonggi Province. Additionally, with jeonse (long-term lease) prices also skyrocketing, forecasts suggest that the trend of Seoul citizens leaving Seoul will accelerate.

According to the statistics on apartment buyers' residences from the Korea Real Estate Board on the 25th, among the 327,992 apartment transactions in Gyeonggi Province in 2021?including sales, gifts, pre-sale rights transfers, and ownership transfers?transactions by Seoul residents accounted for 56,877 cases, making up 17.34% of the total. This is the highest since 2009 (17.45%) in 12 years.

The annual proportion of Seoul residents in Gyeonggi Province apartment transactions fell from 17.45% in 2009 to 13.05% in 2014. It then rose to 15.01% in 2017, the year the current government took office, before declining again to 14.73% in 2018 and 14.02% in 2019. However, it sharply increased to 15.25% in 2020 and 17.34% last year. This coincides with the annual Seoul apartment actual transaction price index change rates, which surged from 8.6% in 2019 to 19.17% in 2020 and 13.21% in 2021. It is analyzed that the demand for securing a home in the Gyeonggi area increased as people could no longer endure the sudden soaring housing prices in Seoul.

In fact, 6 out of 10 people who left Seoul moved to Gyeonggi Province. According to the Statistics Korea data on regional migration, 567,366 people moved out of Seoul to other regions over the past year. Of these, about 362,116 people, approximately 64%, moved to Gyeonggi Province. Among those who left Seoul, the 20s and 30s age groups were the largest. According to the ‘2021 Seoul Survey’ recently released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, half of the population leaving Seoul last year were in their 20s and 30s. Especially, those in their 30s, who had the highest net outflow, cited housing issues as the reason for moving out. According to Real Estate R114, as of last month, the average apartment sale price per 3.3㎡ in Seoul was 43.12 million KRW, about twice the national average of 22.33 million KRW and Gyeonggi Province’s 20.50 million KRW.

Jeonse prices are also expected to accelerate the trend of leaving Seoul. According to the Korea Real Estate Board, the average jeonse price for apartments in Seoul in February this year was 633.62 million KRW, an increase of 29.5% (144.28 million KRW) compared to a year earlier. Meanwhile, the average apartment sale price in Gyeonggi Province in February was 609.29 million KRW, lower than the average jeonse price of apartments in Seoul.

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