Slight Increase in Seoul Apartment Buying Sentiment After Hesitation

Seoul apartment complex view (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] Apartment buying sentiment, which had briefly stalled last week, has been shown to recover again.

According to the Korea Real Estate Board on the 7th, the Seoul apartment sales supply-demand index for this week (as of the 2nd) rose by 0.6 points to 91.5 from last week’s 90.5.

The Seoul apartment sales supply-demand index had risen for seven consecutive weeks due to expectations of deregulation such as reconstruction tax policies by the new government after the presidential election, but the upward trend stopped last week. However, it rose again this week. Generally, the lower the sales supply-demand index is below the baseline (100), the more sellers there are in the market compared to buyers.

By region, the southeastern area including the four Gangnam districts recorded 97.0, the highest figure in five months since December 6 last year (97.2), followed by the downtown area including Yongsan and Jongno districts, which have materials related to the presidential office relocation, at 91.9.

The southwestern area, including Mokdong and Yeouido, also slightly rose from 91.5 last week to 91.8 this week due to reconstruction expectations. The northwestern area (87.3) and northeastern area (87.5) also saw an increase compared to last week but remain below 90.

Gyeonggi Province also saw the index rise again from 91.0 last week to 92.4 this week due to expectations for reconstruction in the first-generation new towns, and Incheon showed an increase in buying demand from 94.0 last week to 95.0 this week. This atmosphere was reflected in the Korea Real Estate Board survey, where Seoul apartment prices (0.01%) turned to an increase for the first time in 15 weeks this week, and Gyeonggi and Incheon stopped their downward trend, leading to price changes.

Based on the recovery of buying sentiment in the metropolitan area, the nationwide apartment supply-demand index also rose again from 93.6 last week to 94.1 this week. The Seoul apartment jeonse supply-demand index recorded 94.7 this week, continuing its recovery trend for nine consecutive weeks since the presidential election.

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