Seoul Office Sales Volume Rebounds After One Year... "Too Early for Optimism"

In the second quarter of this year, the volume of office building and office space sales in Seoul returned to an upward trend after a year. However, due to significant monthly and transaction amount volatility, some experts caution that it is premature to be optimistic about the market.

Quarterly Seoul office sales volume and transaction amount. [Image provided by Real Estate Planet]

On the 22nd, Real Estate Planet, a commercial real estate specialist company, analyzed data based on actual transaction prices from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and found that in the second quarter of this year, the sales volume of Seoul office buildings and offices increased by 133.3% and 45.7%, respectively, compared to the previous quarter.

The number of office sales in Seoul in the second quarter reached 306 transactions, reversing a steady decline trend since the second quarter of last year. The transaction amount also surged by 1035.2% from the first quarter to 845.7 billion KRW.

This sharp increase in transaction amount compared to the first quarter is attributed to unusually concentrated transactions within single buildings such as the Concordian Building in Jongno-gu, Gangbyeon Technomart in Gwangjin-gu, and DMC Ian Sangam 2 Complex in Mapo-gu.

Office building sales totaled 21 transactions in the second quarter, marking a 133.3% increase in volume compared to the first quarter of this year. However, the transaction amount was 471.3 billion KRW, down 12.2% from the previous quarter and 73.8% lower than the same period last year.

The vacancy rate for Seoul office buildings rose for two consecutive months starting in April, recording 2.35% in April, 2.43% in May, and 2.59% in June.

Jung Soo-min, CEO of Real Estate Planet, said, "Following the U.S., even China’s office market is struggling to recover from the downturn, while the domestic market shows an upward trend. However, although the transaction volume generally increased in the second quarter, it fluctuated month to month, and transaction amounts remain volatile, so it is premature to be optimistic about the market."

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