Apgujeong, Mokdong, Yeouido, Land Transaction Permission Zones Extended for One More Year

Exterior view of Hyundai Apartment in Apgujeong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul [Photo by Hyunmin Kim]

Four key areas in Seoul?Apgujeong, Yeouido, Mokdong, and Seongsu?have been re-designated as land transaction permission zones. This effectively extends the designation by one year until April 26 of next year. The decision is interpreted as an effort to curb housing price increases that could result from lifting the permission zone restrictions.

On the 5th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government held the 5th Urban Planning Committee meeting and announced the re-designation of major redevelopment districts (Apgujeong and Yeouido apartment districts, Mokdong housing development district, Seongsu strategic maintenance district) as land transaction permission zones. Originally, the permission zone period was set to expire on the 26th of this month, but with this re-designation, it has been extended by one year until April 26 of next year.

The land transaction permission zone system requires obtaining approval from the mayor or district office chief when trading land above a certain size. It is implemented in areas where there is a possibility of real estate overheating, such as public redevelopment projects, with the purpose of preventing speculation and promoting sound land transactions. Transactions are only allowed for actual residence purposes, making gap investments involving jeonse (long-term deposit rentals) impossible.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government judged that lifting the land transaction permission zone could affect housing price stability. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has repeatedly expressed a strong commitment to stabilizing the real estate market, stating that “it is desirable for real estate prices to fall back to the levels seen in the early days of the Moon Jae-in administration.”

With the re-designation of the land transaction permission zones this time, it is expected that dissatisfaction among residents in the affected areas will increase. In particular, Gangnam-gu, Yangcheon-gu, and Songpa-gu recently officially submitted opinions to Seoul City requesting the lifting of the land transaction permission zone designation. They cited infringement on residents’ property rights and issues of regional equity as their reasons.

With the re-designation of the land transaction permission zones in Apgujeong, Mokdong, and other areas on this day, it is increasingly likely that other areas whose designations expire in June will also be maintained without lifting. The land transaction permission zones in Samsung, Cheongdam, Daechi, and Jamsil-dong are set to expire on June 22 of this year.

Meanwhile, this decision to maintain the designation is expected to have little impact on the real estate market. Song Seung-hyun, head of Urban and Economy, said, “Recently, housing prices and sentiment indices have shown signs of rebound, so it seems that the market is taking a cautious stance,” adding, “Since expectations for the lifting of the land transaction permission zones were not high, this will likely have little effect on the market.”

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