Seoul Apartment Prices Stop Narrowing Decline After 8 Weeks... Sejong Rises for 3rd Week

"Gap in Desired Prices Between Buyers and Sellers Remains"

Seoul apartment prices have stopped their streak of narrowing declines after 8 weeks. Among the 17 cities and provinces nationwide, only Sejong continued its upward trend for the third consecutive week.

View of urban apartments from the observatory at 63 Square in Yeouido, Seoul / Photo by Yonhap News

According to the weekly apartment price trend announced by the Korea Real Estate Board on the 6th, Seoul apartment prices in the first week of April (as of the 3rd) fell by 0.13%, recording the same decline as the previous week (-0.13%).

The Real Estate Board stated, "Due to regulatory easing, prices in some complexes rose slightly, but overall, after the quick-sale properties were exhausted, the gap between buyers' and sellers' desired prices did not narrow, leading to continued inventory accumulation."

By district, apartment prices in Gangdong-gu, which had turned to an increase last week after 42 weeks, fell by 0.07% in one week, while Seocho-gu (-0.01% → -0.04%) and Gangnam-gu (-0.09% → -0.10%) also saw their declines widen compared to the previous week. The largest decline was in Gangseo-gu (-0.30%), followed by Dongdaemun-gu (-0.27%) and Gangbuk-gu (-0.24%).

In Gyeonggi Province, the decline widened from -0.24% to -0.33%. Due to expectations from the development of national industrial complexes, Cheoin-gu in Yongin-si (0.29%) continued its upward trend, but Osan-si (-0.78%), Jangan-gu in Suwon-si (-0.69%), and Deogyang-gu in Goyang-si (-0.64%) continued to decline.

Incheon (-0.20%) also fell by 0.02 percentage points compared to the previous week. Amid increasing listings and weakened buyer sentiment, a wait-and-see stance continued, with Seo-gu (-0.33%) seeing price drops centered on major complexes in Gongchon, Oryu, and Majon-dong, and Bupyeong-gu (-0.29%) experiencing declines mainly in large complexes in Bugae, Sangok, and Ilsin-dong.

In the provinces, the five major metropolitan cities showed a 0.28% decline. These include Busan (-0.28%), Daegu (-0.35%), Gwangju (-0.21%), Daejeon (-0.26%), and Ulsan (-0.28%). However, Sejong (0.10%) was the only city or province to rise, marking its third consecutive week of increase. The Real Estate Board explained, "Prices are showing a gentle upward trend mainly in major complexes in Saerom and Dajeong-dong."

On the other hand, nationwide apartment jeonse (long-term lease) prices fell by 0.25%, with the decline narrowing compared to the previous week (-0.29%). Only Sejong (0.01%) rose for the second consecutive week. The smallest decline was in Gangwon (-0.06%), while areas where jeonse prices fell more than the national average included Gyeonggi (-0.32%), Incheon (-0.28%), Busan (-0.32%), Daegu (-0.40%), Daejeon (-0.27%), and Ulsan (-0.43%).

The Real Estate Board explained, "Seoul jeonse prices (-0.24%) saw a narrowing decline as some quick-sale properties were exhausted in areas and large complexes with relatively good living conditions amid a high-interest rate environment and continued inventory accumulation, leading to a gentle price increase."

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