Sejong Apartment Prices, From Highest Increase to Highest Decrease in 2 Years

Apartment buildings in the Seoul area (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] Sejong City, which saw the largest increase in apartment sale and jeonse prices nationwide two years ago, is now experiencing the steepest decline this year.

According to the Korea Real Estate Board on the 18th, as of the second week of this month (surveyed on the 12th), apartment sale prices in Sejong City have fallen by 7.11%, and jeonse prices have dropped by 10.24%. Both sale and jeonse prices have recorded the largest decline among the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces and regulated areas nationwide.

In 2020, Sejong City recorded the highest nationwide increase with apartment sale prices rising 44.93% and jeonse prices increasing 60.60%, according to the Real Estate Board statistics. At that time, as discussions to relocate the administrative capital accelerated, speculative demand surged, causing apartment prices to soar.

However, apartment prices in Sejong City began to slow their rise last year, and sale prices have been declining for 60 consecutive weeks since the fourth week of July that year, while jeonse prices have been falling for 43 consecutive weeks since the fourth week of November. Although a revision bill to the National Assembly Act, which includes establishing a branch of the National Assembly in Sejong City, passed the plenary session of the National Assembly after five years since its proposal in late September last year, the situation has not reversed for a year.

This is interpreted as a result of fatigue from the short-term rapid price surge combined with a contraction in buying sentiment due to interest rate hikes that began in earnest at the end of last year.

Based on monthly statistics, apartment prices in Sejong City fell 6.36% through August this year, marking the largest annual decline for the January to August period since related statistics began in December 2012. Last month, apartment prices dropped 1.26%, expanding the monthly decline to over 1% for the first time this year, showing the highest rate of decline among regulated areas nationwide.

This trend was also evident in individual complexes. The Gowoonteul Park Apartment in Garak Village 8 Complex, Goun-dong, Sejong City, with an exclusive area of 74.7㎡, was traded at 604 million KRW in December 2020. However, in May and July of this year, it sold for 360 million KRW and 395 million KRW respectively, dropping more than 200 million KRW in less than two years.

Meanwhile, the decline in jeonse prices in Sejong City is steeper than that of apartment sale prices. Jeonse prices in Sejong City apartments have shown a high monthly decline rate of over 1% for nine consecutive months from December last year to last month. The jeonse price ratio is also at a low level of around 40%.

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