Last Year’s Nationwide Land Price Increase Rate Hits Lowest in 15 Years

Annual Nationwide Land Prices Rose 0.82% Last Year
Lowest Since -0.32% in 2008

Land Transaction Volume Also Declined
Decreased 17.4% Compared to 2022

Sangam-dong Apartment. Photo by Yongjun Cho jun21@

Last year, the nationwide land price increased by only 0.82%, falling to the lowest level since the global financial crisis in 2008 (-0.32%). As the upward trend in land prices weakened, land transaction volumes also declined. The total land transactions last year (including land attached to buildings) amounted to approximately 1,826,000 parcels (1,362.4 km²), significantly retreating compared to 2021?2023. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Real Estate Board announced the annual land price change rate and land transaction volume for last year on the 24th.

Land Price Growth Rates Declined in Both the Capital Region and Provinces

Last year’s nationwide land price increase (0.82%) shrank by 1.91 percentage points compared to 2022 (2.73%) and by 3.35 percentage points compared to 2021 (4.17%). The second half of the year showed more strength than the first half. The land price change rate in the fourth quarter last year was 0.46%, which was 0.16 percentage points higher than the third quarter (0.30%) and 0.42 percentage points higher than the fourth quarter of 2022 (0.04%).

Looking at the regional trends in 2022 and 2023, both the Capital Region (3.03% → 1.08%) and provinces (2.24% → 0.40%) showed lower growth rates compared to the previous year. At the city/province level, Sejong (3.25% → 1.14%), Seoul (3.06% → 1.11%), and Gyeonggi (3.11% → 1.08%) exceeded the national average. At the city/county/district level, 50 areas including Yongin Cheoin-gu (6.66%), Seongnam Sujeong-gu (3.14%), Gunwi-gun (2.86%), Ulleung-gun (2.55%), and Gangnam-gu (2.43%) surpassed the national average.

The Capital Region and provinces showed differences in the extent of land price increases. Among 250 city/county/district units, 89 showed a low annual land price change rate between 0.0% and 0.3%. Nationwide land prices have been rising for 10 consecutive months since turning positive in March last year (0.01%), but the rate of increase has recently narrowed. In October, it was 0.158%, in November 0.157%, and in December 0.148%.

By land use type, green areas (1.23%) showed the highest increase, and by usage status, factory sites (1.28%) had the largest rise in land prices.

Land Transaction Volume Decreased Everywhere Except Daegu, Daejeon, and Seoul

Last year, the total land transaction volume (including land attached to buildings) was approximately 1,826,000 parcels (1,362.4 km²), down 17.4% (383,000 parcels) compared to 2022. It decreased by 44.6% (1,471,000 parcels) compared to 2021.

Excluding land attached to buildings, pure land transaction volume was about 710,000 parcels (1,263.8 km²). This represents a 27.1% (264,000 parcels) decrease compared to 2022 and a 43.1% (538,000 parcels) decrease compared to 2021.

Last year, total land transaction volume increased in Daegu (18.5%), Daejeon (6.9%), and Seoul (0.7%) compared to 2022, while it decreased in the other 14 cities and provinces. Pure land transaction volume declined in all 17 cities and provinces, including Sejong (-46.0%), Busan (-42.7%), and Daejeon (-40.0%).

By land use type, green areas (-30.8%) saw the largest decrease compared to 2022. In contrast, residential areas (-5.4%) had the smallest decline. By land category, paddy fields (-30.6%) and commercial/business use (-37.4%) transaction volumes dropped significantly.

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