Land prices nationwide rose 0.58% in the first quarter, extending their upward trend, though the pace eased slightly from the previous quarter.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Real Estate Board said on the 23rd that nationwide land prices have risen for 37 straight months since turning upward in March 2023. The first-quarter increase was 0.03 percentage points lower than the 0.61% gain in the fourth quarter of last year, but 0.08 points higher than the 0.50% rise a year earlier.
By month, the nationwide land-price change rate in March was 0.20%, up 0.01 points from 0.19% in February and 0.02 points higher than March last year (0.18%). While the quarterly gain slowed slightly overall, the increase picked up again in March.
By region, land prices in the Seoul metropolitan area rose 0.81%, far outpacing the 0.19% increase in non-metropolitan areas. By province-level jurisdiction, Seoul climbed 1.10%, the only 1%-plus gain among the country’s 17 cities and provinces. Gyeonggi rose 0.55%, followed by Sejong at 0.45% and Daejeon at 0.42%. Jeju fell 0.22%, the only region to post a decline.
At the local-government level, 41 of the nation’s 255 cities, counties and districts exceeded the national average. The biggest increases were in Seoul’s Gangnam District (1.50%), Yongsan District (1.31%) and Seocho District (1.26%), reflecting continued strength in key Seoul neighborhoods. In 89 areas designated as experiencing population decline, land prices rose 0.15%, 0.47 points lower than the 0.62% increase in other areas.
Land transactions declined. Total land deals in the first quarter, including land attached to buildings, totaled 462,000 parcels covering 265.4 square kilometers, down 3.6% from the fourth quarter. Transactions for land excluding building-attached plots totaled 150,964 parcels covering 239.4 square kilometers, down 0.1% from the previous quarter. Compared with a year earlier, however, total transactions rose 6.7% and land-only transactions increased 0.6%.
By city and province, compared with the fourth quarter, total and land-only transactions increased in five regions and fell in 12. Sejong posted the largest gains, with total transactions up 41.7% and land-only transactions up 33.6%. On a land-only basis, Seoul also recorded a 17.6% increase.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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