No Buyers for Seoul Apartments... Purchase Sentiment Shrinks for 10 Consecutive Weeks

As the decline in Seoul apartment prices widens, the apartment sales supply-demand index has fallen for 10 consecutive weeks. Concerns are growing that housing prices will drop further due to the economic recession and interest rate hikes, causing buying sentiment to increasingly freeze.

According to the Korea Real Estate Board on the 15th, this week's Seoul apartment sales supply-demand index was 86.4, down 0.4 points (p) from last week (86.8).

The sales supply-demand index is calculated by the Real Estate Board based on surveys of member real estate agencies and the number of online listings, quantifying the ratio of demand (buyers) to supply (sellers). The lower this index is below the baseline (100), the more it indicates that there are more people wanting to sell than buy in the market.

The Seoul apartment sales supply-demand index began to decline after the temporary exclusion of multi-homeowners from the capital gains tax surcharge was implemented in May and has been falling for 10 weeks straight.

The supply-demand indices for the five major regions of Seoul also fell simultaneously. The downtown area, which includes Yongsan and Jongno districts, dropped 1.0p from last week (85.7) to 84.7, showing the largest decline.

The northeast area (including Nowon, Dobong, and Gangbuk districts) fell 0.7p from last week (82.1) to 81.4, and the southeast area, which includes the Gangnam 4 districts, also declined by 0.7p to 91.9 compared to last week.

The northwest area, including Mapo, Eunpyeong, and Seodaemun districts, recorded the lowest sales supply-demand index among the five major regions at 79.3, down 0.2p from last week.

The southwest area, which includes Yangcheon and Yeongdeungpo districts, was the only one among the five major regions to rise, increasing 0.2p from last week (90.5) to 90.7, but it still remained well below the baseline.

Seoul apartment prices have continued to decline for seven consecutive weeks. This week, the Korea Real Estate Board reported a 0.04% drop in Seoul apartment prices, with the decline widening compared to last week (-0.03%). Yongsan district saw apartment prices fall by 0.01% this week, ending a four-month period of price increases or stability and turning to a decline.

The Seoul apartment jeonse (long-term lease) supply-demand index fell 0.3p from the previous week to 94.0. Nationwide, the weekly apartment jeonse prices announced by the Real Estate Board dropped 0.03%, expanding the decline compared to last week (-0.02%).

With the high possibility of further interest rate hikes in the second half of the year and worsening inventory backlogs, it is expected that buyer sentiment will remain subdued for the time being.

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