Seoul's apartment sales prices turned upward in April, with notable increases in mid-priced complexes in the Northeast and Southwest regions. Jeonse prices have risen over 10% in the past year, while the rental market is nearing a 50% share of monthly leases.
According to the Seoul city government, the apartment sales price index for April increased by 0.08% compared to the previous month, marking a return to growth. Year-over-year, the index rose by 12.86%.
Data from the Korea Real Estate Agency shows that the apartment sales price index in Seoul rose slightly from 196.2 in March to 196.3 in April. The average transaction price increased by 12.6%, from 14.563 million won per square meter to 16.394 million won. For apartments with a standard area of 84 square meters, the average transaction price rose by approximately 154 million won, from 1.223 billion won to 1.377 billion won.
Regionally, the Northeast led the price increases, with a 0.61% rise compared to the previous month, the highest among Seoul's five living zones. The Southwest followed with a 0.21% increase, and the Northwest with 0.10%. In contrast, the Southeast and downtown areas saw declines of 1.27% and 2.41%, respectively.
Year-to-date, the Northeast region also recorded the highest cumulative increase, rising 4.6% from December of last year to April of this year, compared to 4.4% in the Southwest and 3.0% in the Northwest. Analysts attribute this trend to a focus on mid-priced apartments, which are less affected by loan regulations.
The strength of the jeonse market has become even more pronounced. The jeonse price index for Seoul apartments rose by 1.14% from the previous month and by 10.53% year-over-year. The downtown area recorded the largest increase at 3.32%, followed by the Southeast (1.76%) and Southwest (1.53%).
Jeonse prices increased across most size categories, with the exception of very small apartments (40 square meters or less). Large apartments (over 135 square meters) saw the highest increase at 1.50% from the previous month.
Transaction volumes have decreased somewhat. As of May 15, the number of apartment sales transactions in Seoul was 7,282, a 15.2% drop from the previous month. However, since the reporting deadline is still open, the final transaction volume may rise.
Transactions for apartments priced below 1.5 billion won remain the focus, accounting for 76.4% of sales in May, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous month. In terms of district transactions, Nowon had the highest volume at 760, followed by Guro and Gangseo. In these areas, the share of transactions below 1.5 billion won exceeded 90%. The Seoul government noted that the market is being driven by demand for mid-priced apartments.
The rental market continues to show a trend toward monthly leases. In May, there were 7,741 jeonse transactions and 7,429 monthly lease transactions. The share of jeonse in total rental transactions was 51.0%, while monthly leases accounted for 49.0%, effectively maintaining a near 50-50 split. Since December of last year, one in every two rental contracts has been a monthly lease.
Among jeonse contracts, the share of renewals rose to 53.6%, up from 43.0% in the same month last year, but the use of renewal request rights decreased to 50.2%, down from 57.5% year-over-year.
Additionally, data analyzed by Real Estate 114 indicates that the share of apartments priced over 1.5 billion won in Seoul increased from 32.83% on October 3 of last year to 39.70% on June 12, a rise of 6.87 percentage points. During the same period, the share of apartments priced below 1.5 billion won decreased from 67.17% to 60.30%.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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