"This Year's First Week Seoul and Capital Area Apartment Sales Turn Weak After 5 Weeks"

Winter Off-Season, No Market Momentum During Early Year Holidays
Increase in Jeonse Demand Inquiries

As the government announced that it will freeze the actualization rate of publicly announced real estate prices at the 2020 level, on the 21st, sale and jeonse prices are posted at an apartment complex in Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

In the first week of 2024, apartment sale prices in Seoul and the metropolitan area turned weak (-0.01%) for the first time in five weeks. The market shows signs of weakened buying demand due to the winter off-season and the early-year holidays, resulting in a lack of market momentum.

In particular, amid heightened concerns about PF (Project Financing) defaults at the end of last year, uncertainty is spreading throughout the market as Taeyoung Construction, ranked 16th in construction capability evaluation, filed for workout.

However, while buying demand is shrinking, there is also an increase in inquiries for jeonse (long-term lease) demand centered on actual housing needs, especially in some areas with high residential preference.

According to Real Estate R114 on the 6th, keywords repeatedly appearing in the survey of apartment prices in Gyeonggi-do throughout December last year included 'jeonse' (694 cases), 'fluctuation' (440 cases), 'price' (235 cases), 'monthly rent' (206 cases), and 'transaction' (179 cases).

As investment demand shrinks across the metropolitan area and flows into the rental market, keywords related to both jeonse and monthly rent are prominently positioned in the Gyeonggi-do area.

Regarding market price movements, keywords such as 'transaction cliff' (49 cases), 'stable' (40 cases), 'quiet' (26 cases), 'deserted' (26 cases), 'demand decrease' (17 cases), 'market stagnation' (15 cases), and 'mainly urgent sales' (13 cases) indicate a more sluggish market atmosphere compared to the past.

Real Estate R114 stated that in the second week of January, a total of 5,483 households (2,844 general sales) across 12 complexes nationwide will begin pre-sale.

Applications will be accepted at sites such as ‘Doosan We’ve The Zenith Central Gyeyang’ in Jakjeon-dong, Gyeyang-gu, Incheon; ‘Yeongtong Station Xi Praciel’ in Seocheon-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do; and ‘Munsu-ro Artis’ in Sinjeong-dong, Nam-gu, Ulsan.

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