Gap in Land Price Increases Widens Between Seoul Metropolitan Area and Non-Metropolitan Regions

Ministry of Land and Korea Real Estate Board
Announce Nationwide Land Price Fluctuations for First Half of the Year

In the first half of this year, nationwide land prices rose by 1.05%. This increase is slightly lower than the 1.15% rise recorded in the second half of last year. By region, the Seoul metropolitan area, including Seoul itself, saw the largest increases, leading the overall upward trend.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's report on the national land price fluctuation rate for the first half of this year, the Seoul metropolitan area recorded a 1.40% increase. Seoul rose by 1.73% and Gyeonggi Province by 1.17%, both exceeding the national average. All other metropolitan and special local governments recorded increases below the national average. In the first half of the year, the land price increase rate for non-metropolitan regions was 0.44%. In Jeju, where land prices have been consistently declining since 2023, there was a further decrease of 0.38% in the first half, continuing the downward trend.

View of Gangnam-gu, Seoul (below), and apartment complexes north of the Han River from Maebawi, Cheonggyesan, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do. Photo by Yonhap News

Looking at basic local government units such as cities, counties, and districts, Gangnam-gu in Seoul rose by 2.81%, Yongsan-gu by 2.61%, and Cheoin-gu in Yongin by 2.37%. Out of 252 cities, counties, and districts nationwide, 47 recorded increases above the national average. All of the top 10 areas with the highest rates of increase were located in the Seoul metropolitan area. In regions with declining populations, land prices rose by 0.348%. These population-decline areas are 89 cities, counties, and districts in 11 provinces designated by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. In other regions, the increase was 1.106%, showing a significant gap.

Just as polarization between the Seoul metropolitan area and non-metropolitan regions is intensifying in the housing market, a similar trend is observed in land prices. The difference in land price increase rates between the metropolitan area and non-metropolitan regions has steadily narrowed since the first half of 2020 (1.11 percentage points), and in the second half of 2022, the gap was as small as 0.06 percentage points. However, as the rate of increase widened again, the gap in the first half of this year reached its highest level in five years.

The total number of land transactions in the first half of the year was 906,729 parcels, a 2.5% decrease compared to the same period last year. Compared to the previous half-year, the number declined by 4.2%. Excluding land attached to buildings, the number of pure land transactions was 308,360 parcels, down 10.9% from last year and 2.0% from the previous half-year. Compared to the average for the first half of the past five years, this is a decrease of over 30%, which is interpreted as a result of the prolonged real estate market downturn and other factors.

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