Seoul Apartment Prices Rise 6.7% Annually Over 37 Years, "July Last Year Was the Peak"

Apartment prices in Seoul have risen by an average of 6.7% annually over the past 37 years. Among these 37 years, prices fell compared to the previous year in 11 years, but the decline was generally less than 5%, while the increases showed a steep upward trend.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to an analysis of KB Kookmin Bank's October monthly time series data, Real Estate Info announced on the 8th that this was the case. If one had purchased an apartment in Seoul in January 1986, when the related data was first made public, and still held it in October this year, its value would have increased about 6.1 times. This exceeds the national average apartment price increase of 4.6 times. If an apartment in Seoul was purchased in January 2016, the current price has increased approximately 1.5 times. The highest peak was recorded in July last year.

There were only 11 instances of year-on-year price declines. Except for the 1998 Asian financial crisis (-14.6%), all price drops were less than 5%. Although prices fell by 2.9% last year, they rebounded starting from September this year (0.2%).

[Image provided by Budongsan Info]

On the other hand, when the market entered a rising phase, the increase was steep. In 2001 (19.3%), 2002 (30.7%), 2003 (10.1%), and 2006 (24.1%), prices soared with double-digit growth rates. The recent boom years of 2020 (13.0%) and 2021 (16.4%) also recorded sharp increases.

The preference for Seoul apartments is also evident in recent subscription competition rates. Until October this year, the average subscription competition rate for Seoul apartments was 66.4 to 1, exceeding the national average (12.0 to 1) by more than five times.

Kwon Il, head of the Real Estate Info research team, said, “Seoul needs to supply apartments through redevelopment and reconstruction projects, so large-scale apartment sales are limited, but the concentration in Seoul is intensifying, and investors are flocking even in local areas, which is analyzed to maintain stable housing prices.”

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