Sale and jeonse prices for apartments in Seoul continued to rise, but the pace of increase eased slightly for the first time in four weeks. Apartment prices in the southern Gyeonggi region, which has many semiconductor industry workers, rose sharply.

According to the Korea Real Estate Board “Weekly Apartment Price Trend” for the fourth week of May (as of May 25), released on the 28th, Seoul apartment sale prices rose 0.25% from the previous week (0.31%). However, the rate of increase narrowed by 0.06 percentage points.

The pace of increase in Seoul apartment sale prices had expanded for three consecutive weeks in the first, second, and third weeks of May (0.15%, 0.28%, 0.31%), then slowed in the fourth week.

Sale prices rose across all 25 districts of Seoul. However, the magnitude of the increase was smaller than the previous week. Only in Jung-gu (0.22%→0.41%) and Mapo-gu (0.23%→0.24%) did the pace of increase expand.

In northern Seoul, the uptrend in sale prices continued. Gangbuk-gu (0.42%) rose the most, followed by Jung-gu (0.41%), Seongbuk-gu and Gwangjin-gu (0.37%), and Dobong-gu (0.34%).

The three Gangnam districts also continued to rise, though at a slower pace. In Seocho-gu (0.26%→0.20%), Gangnam-gu (0.20%→0.14%), and Songpa-gu (0.38%→0.28%), gains narrowed from the previous week.

In Gyeonggi Province, prices rose 0.09% from the previous week (0.12%), so the pace of increase edged down, but the southern Gyeonggi “semiconductor belt,” where demand from semiconductor industry workers is strong, remained robust. In particular, Dongtan-gu in Hwaseong-si (0.46%→0.49%) recorded the province’s highest growth rate. Some attribute this to favorable semiconductor market conditions. Jungwon-gu in Seongnam-si (0.41%), Gwangmyeong-si (0.30%), and Guri-si (0.29%) also showed high growth rates.

Seoul apartment jeonse prices (0.29%→0.26%) had expanded for three straight weeks, then decreased by 0.03 percentage point this week, but they are still on the rise. Nationwide, apartment jeonse prices increased 0.10% from the previous week.

Within Seoul, jeonse increases were fastest in Seongbuk-gu (0.44%), Seongdong-gu (0.42%), Songpa-gu (0.42%), Dobong-gu (0.41%), and Gwangjin-gu (0.40%), followed by Nowon-gu and Gangseo-gu (0.31%). In particular, the jeonse growth rate in Gangseo-gu is the highest since the third week of October 2023 (0.31%).

In Gyeonggi (0.14%), Dongtan-gu in Hwaseong-si (0.44%), Jungwon-gu in Seongnam-si (0.35%), and Gwangmyeong-si (0.34%) posted notable increases. The Seoul metropolitan area as a whole rose 0.17%, while non-capital regions rose 0.03%.

Nam Hyeok-woo of the Woori Bank Real Estate Research Institute analyzed, “In Seoul, listings are scarce as properties held by multiple-home owners have been absorbed, and with prices jumping sharply over a short period mainly in outer northeastern areas, end users feeling the burden have shifted to a wait-and-see stance.”