Sejong City Apartment Prices with Large Drops Rebound First... "Impact of Bottom Recognition"

This year, the region where apartment sale prices rebounded first was Sejong City.

Apartment view in Sejong City / Photo by Yonhap News

According to Zigbang's monthly report on the 24th, apartment sale prices in Sejong City rose by 93% over about two years from October 2019 to August 2021. This is more than twice the average increase rate (42%) of other regions during the same period.

This price increase trend reversed after reaching a peak of 23.04 million KRW per 3.3㎡ in August 2021. Since then, it continued to decline, falling to 16.3 million KRW per 3.3㎡ in February. This is a 29% drop compared to the peak, which is a larger decline than the average decrease rate (5%) in other regions.

The timing of the downturn was also earlier than in other regions. While apartment prices in most areas showed weakness from the second half of last year, Sejong City entered a downward trend a full year earlier.

Zigbang analyzed that this steep decline became a catalyst for a faster rebound. The perception of a price bottom in Sejong City spread, leading to a rapid inflow of investment and actual demand, which exhausted low-priced listings.

In fact, until January this year, 63% of the total 191 sales transactions were conducted at prices lower than previous transaction prices. However, in February, the proportion of declining transactions decreased to 51% out of a total volume of 436 transactions, while rising transactions increased to 43%. In March, apartment prices turned upward with a 0.8% increase compared to the previous month, and rising transactions accounted for 224 out of 432 transactions (52%). Subsequently, the upward trend continued with changes of 0.6% in April, 1.2% in May, and 1.0% in June.

A Zigbang official said, "Although the rate of increase in June was somewhat smaller than in May, the proportion of rising transactions was 55%, the highest monthly figure this year," adding, "It may take some time to recover to the peak, but it is interesting to see whether the upward trend will continue in July."

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