The Record High Surpassed 84 Times, Trading Volume Up 3.6 Times
The view of Lotte World Tower and apartment buildings in the Jamsil area, by photographer Lee Sang-seop.
In a 39-day period since Seoul lifted the land transaction permission zone restrictions in the ‘Samseong·Daechi·Cheongdam’ (JamSamDaeCheong) area, the number of reported high-price transactions significantly increased, nearly sevenfold, while the overall transaction volume rose by 3.6 times.
According to real estate platform Jikbang, from the day following the announcement of the lifting of land transaction permission zones on February 13 until the day before extended re-designation on March 23, the total property transaction volume in Seoul was 9,665 cases (as of April 4). This is about twice the number during the same timeframe before the announcement (January 4 to February 11), which was 4,559 cases.
Over the 39 days post-lifting, the apartment sales volume in the regulated target areas totaled 353 cases, a 3.6-fold increase from 99 cases right before the lifting.
The number of transactions reaching new record prices also increased. There were 13 cases during the 39 days before the lifting in the JamSamDaeCheong area. After the lifting, the cases rose to 84, approximately 6.5 times the increase. This is a notable figure compared to the 2.3-fold increase in reported record-high transactions across the entirety of Seoul, which rose from 362 to 839 cases during the same period. However, the deadline for reporting actual transactions has not yet passed, so final transaction volume figures may still fluctuate.
Among the areas that lifted restrictions, Jamsil-dong saw the most transactions, with 135 apartment sales over the 39 days. Within Jamsil-dong, the most traded complexes were ‘Samsung’s Big Three’. The Resenz had 38 transactions, Lotte ELS had 34, and Trizium had 30. Known as the ‘Elite’ complexes, with a total scale of nearly 15,000 households, these areas serve as a leading indicator of the Seoul apartment market. As such, buying interest concentrated there immediately after the regulation lifting.
Following Jamsil-dong, Samseong-dong recorded 86 transactions, Daechi-dong 71, and Cheongdam-dong 61. In Samseong-dong, the Samseong Hillstate 1st complex had 16 transactions; Daechi-dong’s Daechi Hyundai had 10; and Cheongdam-dong’s Cheongdam Xi had 11.
Meanwhile, in areas not subject to regulation, Gangnam-gu (excluding the deregulation target) saw 676 transactions, Gangdong-gu recorded 652, Songpa-gu (excluding the deregulation target) had 652, and Seongdong-gu had 637.
In Gangnam-gu itself, the most active areas were Gaepo-dong with 131 cases, Dogok-dong with 122, and Yeoksam-dong with 116 transactions. In Gaepo-dong, Gaepo Raemian Foret had 23 transactions and Raemian Blestige had 21. In Dogok-dong, Dogok Rexle had 25, and Gyeongnam had 13. In Yeoksam-dong, both Yeoksam Raemian and Teheran I-Park recorded 17 and 13 transactions respectively.
Kim Eun-seon, head of the Jikbang Big Data Lab, stated, “With the re-designation of land transaction permission zones, the capital region real estate market is likely to face a short-term contraction in transactions.” She added, “As lending restrictions and tax reinforcement measures are reapplied, buyer’s wait-and-see attitudes are becoming more pronounced, and the market is exhibiting a cautious outlook.”
However, she also mentioned, “Demand in the auction market for properties within the land transaction permission zones remains strong, indicating sustained interest in prime areas. Due to shortages in supply and high scarcity, core popular areas including Gangnam display strong price defense even during periods of adjustment, maintaining the momentum for property price increases.”