In the first half of 2026, land prices in Seoul saw the largest increase in the country, as the overall national land price growth slightly expanded. The volume of land transactions also increased compared to the second half of last year, indicating a modest recovery in market activity.
According to a report released on July 23 by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Real Estate Agency, national land prices rose by 1.22% in the first half of this year. This marks an increase of 0.03 percentage points from the 1.19% recorded in the second half of last year and a 0.17 percentage point rise from the 1.05% seen in the first half of last year.
In terms of quarterly performance, the national land price change rate for the second quarter of this year was 0.63%, up 0.05 percentage points from 0.58% in the first quarter. Compared to the same period last year, which saw a 0.55% increase, this represents a growth of 0.08 percentage points.
Regionally, there remains a disparity between the metropolitan area and other regions. Land prices in the metropolitan area increased from 1.66% in the second half of last year to 1.69% in the first half of this year, while prices in other regions remained stable at 0.38%.
By city, Seoul's land prices surged by 2.32%, significantly exceeding the national average and marking the highest increase among the 17 cities and provinces. Following Seoul were Daejeon at 0.80%, Incheon at 0.67%, and Busan at 0.61%.
Within Seoul, the Gangnam area and key business and development zones showed particularly strong price increases. Among the districts, Gangnam-gu recorded the highest rise at 2.99%, followed by Yongsan-gu at 2.88% and Seongdong-gu at 2.69%. Out of 255 cities, counties, and districts nationwide, 37 exceeded the national average increase.
In terms of land use, commercial areas saw the highest increase at 1.50%. Residential areas rose by 1.44%, industrial areas by 1.07%, and green spaces by 0.74%. For land usage, commercial land increased by 1.42%, while residential land rose by 1.38%.
Land transactions also saw an uptick. In the first half of this year, the total number of land transactions, including those for building sites, reached 945,084, covering an area of 574.2 square kilometers. This represents a 2.2% increase from the second half of last year and a 4.2% increase from the first half of last year.
Excluding transactions for building sites, the pure land transaction volume was 298,071. This is a 1.5% increase compared to the second half of last year, but a 3.3% decrease from the first half of last year.
By city, Sejong saw the largest increase in total land transactions at 42.2%, followed by Jeonbuk at 10.8%. Among the 17 cities and provinces, 10 experienced an increase in transaction volume, while 7 saw a decline. In terms of pure land transactions, Sejong increased by 30.4%, and Seoul by 17.5%, with 6 cities showing growth while 11 experienced declines.
By land use, transactions in agricultural and forestry areas increased by 26.9%, the largest growth. In terms of land type, rice paddy transactions rose by 19.9%, while industrial land transactions increased by 5.2%. Conversely, unspecified land types saw a decrease of 21.8%, forest land by 9.4%, and other buildings by 12.1%.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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