"Up 200 Million Won in Just Two Months"... Home Prices Rise Faster Than Seoul in Semiconductor-Benefitting Areas [Practical Investment]

Increased Housing Demand Near Samsung Electronics and SK hynix Investments
Yongin Apartment Prices Rise Faster Than Seoul
Population Influx Expected Due to New Industrial Complexes
Pyeongtaek's Unsold Housing Inventory Shrinks
Job Grow

As domestic semiconductor companies post record-breaking earnings, the impact is spreading to the real estate market. Increased facility investment has led to more hiring, which in turn is revitalizing housing transactions in nearby areas. With transactions in the Seoul real estate market gradually declining due to various regulations, investor interest is increasingly focused on regions benefiting from the semiconductor boom.

Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus P5 (Plant 5) construction site. Photo by Yonhap News

According to data from the Korea Real Estate Board as of March 16, 2026, the cumulative apartment price increase in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, this year stands at 3.66%. In Suji-gu, the most urbanized district within Yongin and known for its convenient access to Seoul, prices have risen by 5.80% over the same period. Compared to Seoul’s apartment price increase of 1.97%, the rise in Suji-gu is significantly higher.

In Seongbok-dong, one of Suji-gu’s leading apartment complexes, the 84-square-meter unit at Seongbok Station Lotte Castle Gold Town set a new record on March 11, selling for 1.74 billion won. In early January of this year, the same unit traded for 1.52 billion won, marking an increase of more than 200 million won in just over two months. The 84-square-meter unit at Dongcheon Village Hyundai Hometown 2nd Complex in Dongcheon-dong, built in 2002, was traded for less than 1 billion won until early this year. However, riding the price surge in Suji-gu, it set a new record last month, selling for 1.12 billion won. Even this month, another transaction was concluded for 1.06 billion won on March 13, with contracts consistently being signed above the 1 billion won mark.

The industry attributes the remarkable rise in apartment prices across Yongin to job creation stemming from the semiconductor boom. In Cheoin-gu, Yongin, Samsung Electronics is advancing a national industrial complex for advanced system semiconductors with an investment of 360 trillion won, while SK hynix is simultaneously pushing forward a general industrial cluster for semiconductors with a 600 trillion won investment. In addition, over 100 semiconductor-related companies are expected to move in. Once these industrial complexes are completed, the number of resident workers is expected to exceed 140,000, fueling expectations for a real estate windfall driven by population inflow.

Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, is another area benefiting from the semiconductor boom. Last year, Samsung Electronics officially announced the resumption of construction for its fifth semiconductor production line, P5 (Plant 5), at the Pyeongtaek Campus. Upon completion, demand for actual residency is expected to grow, driven by full-time staff and employees of partner companies. Unlike Seoul and other regions, which have been subject to transaction restrictions due to designation as land transaction permission zones and tighter lending regulations implemented under the October 15, 2025, measures, Pyeongtaek has avoided such restrictions, which is seen as a positive factor.

Thanks to these positive developments, the oversupply of unsold homes that previously weighed on the Pyeongtaek housing market is gradually being resolved. According to data on unsold private homes in Pyeongtaek, the number stood at 6,438 units in January 2025 but dropped to 3,292 units by December 2025. As of January 2026, the number further declined to 2,942 units, more than halving in just one year.

Among regions outside the Seoul metropolitan area, Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province is seeing its apartment market heat up. In particular, apartment transactions in Heungdeok-gu reached 848 in January and February of this year, up 40.9% compared to the same period last year. Heungdeok-gu is home to SK hynix’s Cheongju Campuses 1 to 4, and will soon add the ‘Cheongju M15X Fab (Plant)’, which will focus on manufacturing high-bandwidth memory (HBM). The ‘Chungcheong Metropolitan Express Railway (CTX) Project,’ which will link Daejeon, Sejong, Osong Station, and Cheongju Airport, is also underway. This will improve transportation convenience to Seoul, supplementing the existing Gyeongbu Line.

The leading apartment complex in Heungdeok-gu, Shinyoung Jewell City 1st Complex in Bokdae-dong, saw an 99-square-meter unit jump from 610 million won in January 2025 to 890 million won on March 2, 2026, an increase of 280 million won in just over a year.

Even in regions without a semiconductor industry, apartment prices often rise in areas with favorable local industrial developments. Ulsan is a prime example. Amid limited housing supply, the ‘MASGA (Make American Shipbuilding Great Again) Project’, which aims to strengthen Korea-US cooperation in shipbuilding, has had a positive impact. Ulsan is home to HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and about 580 related partner companies. This year, Ulsan’s cumulative apartment price increase reached 1.29%, up from 0.07% a year earlier and 0.03 percentage points higher than the Seoul metropolitan area’s 1.26% increase.

In Ulsan’s Nam-gu, a preferred residential area, a 185-square-meter unit at the landmark Shinjeong Lotte Castle Kingdom apartment complex was traded for 1.3 billion won in March 2025. By last month, the price had increased by more than 200 million won, reaching 1.51 billion won.

Youngsun Kwon, Team Leader at Shinhan Bank’s Real Estate Investment Advisory Center, explained, “When making real estate investment decisions, factors such as transportation and school districts are considered, but job creation is also a huge plus. With relatively fewer regulations, the trend of price increases in areas with positive job market prospects may continue, making such locations worth considering for investment.”

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