Seoul Residents' Sejong Home Purchases Plummet 67% in One Year... Record Low for Out-of-Town Investments

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Minjae] The volume of housing transactions by Seoul residents in other regions recorded the lowest level ever this year. This is the exact opposite of last year, which saw the highest level ever. As the nationwide housing prices continue to decline, the ‘expedition investment’ by Seoul residents is also disappearing.

On the 21st, real estate information provider Economy Manlab examined the housing transaction volume by residence based on data from the Korea Real Estate Board. It showed that from January to October last year, Seoul residents conducted 76,121 housing transactions in other regions. From January to October this year, the number dropped by 57.8% to 32,156 compared to the previous year. This is the lowest figure since the Korea Real Estate Board began compiling related statistics in 2006 (based on January to October data).

The region with the largest decline was Sejong City. From January to October last year, Seoul residents made 423 housing transactions in Sejong, but this year the number fell by 67.1% to 139 compared to the previous year.

The housing transaction volume by Seoul residents in Gyeonggi Province also decreased compared to the previous year. It was 43,329 last year but dropped by 64.8% to 15,262 this year. In Incheon City, the number decreased by 60.5%, from 9,651 to 3,811.

Busan City also saw a 59.2% decrease, from 1,606 last year to 655 this year. Gyeongbuk Province dropped by 49.2%, from 1,607 to 816, and Gwangju decreased by 48.6%, from 689 to 354 during the same period.

The same trend applies to residents from other regions. The housing transaction volume of non-Seoul residents in Seoul was 30,050 from January to October last year, but it decreased by 50.3% to 14,931 from January to October this year compared to the previous year.

Hwang Hansol, a research fellow at Economy Manlab, said, "Although most regulatory areas nationwide have been lifted, the impact of interest rate hikes continues to cause housing prices to decline, so it is highly likely that Seoul residents’ purchases of houses in other regions will also shrink."

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