At 11 a.m. on the 5th in front of Exit 4 of Olympic Park Station on Subway Lines 5 and 9 in Bangi-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul. Across the street, the Olympic Athletes' and Press Village Apartment complex with 5,540 households spread out in a fan shape.
On the roads surrounding the complex, congratulatory banners for the establishment of the Olympic Athletes' and Press Village Reconstruction Promotion Committee, posted by major domestic builders, hung in a row. DL E&C, Hyundai E&C, GS Engineering and Construction, Samsung C&T, Daewoo E&C, and POSCO E&C—leading builders in the maintenance sector—are starting behind-the-scenes competition even before the launch of the association.
The Olympic Athletes' and Press Village Apartment complex is a large-scale estate counted among the "Big Three Olympic complexes" along with Olympic Family Town and Asian Athletes' Village. It was built as accommodations for athletes and reporters during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. From the existing maximum 24 stories, 122 buildings, and 5,540 households, it is expected to be reborn through reconstruction as new apartments with 9,200 households in total, from four basement levels to 45 above ground.
The Olympic Athletes' and Press Village Apartment complex in Bangi-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul has recently accelerated its reconstruction, making it harder to find listings in the real estate market. Earlier, the Olympic Athletes' Village Apartment Reconstruction Task Force (Oljaedan) completed the establishment of the Reconstruction Promotion Committee (Rechuwi) on the 18th of last month.
According to a compilation of comments from local real estate agents that day, once rumors began spreading last month that the Olympic Athletes' and Press Village Apartment complex would win approval for its reconstruction promotion committee, more homeowners pulled their listings from the market or raised their asking prices.
An employee at a real estate agency in Bangi-dong said, "The complex has more than 5,000 households, but there are fewer than 50 listings on the market, just 1%," and added, "Naturally, the market has shifted in favor of sellers, and since last month, record-high transactions by exclusive area have continued while asking prices keep rising."
The person said, "Due to the land transaction permit zone regulations, end-user requirements have been tightened and the loan limit has been reduced, but among homeowners there is a prevailing sentiment to hold on to the Olympic Athletes' and Press Village, known as a prime reconstruction complex, to the end," adding, "It sits in a 'forest zone' right in front of Olympic Park, is a large complex with more than 5,000 households, and has a subway station at the front of the complex, so resident satisfaction is quite high."
In fact, for a 120-square-meter (47-pyeong) exclusive unit at the Olympic Athletes' and Press Village Apartment complex, a first-floor listing sold last month for 3.95 billion won. Compared with the record high as of May (3.05 billion won), that is a jump of 900 million won.
A 163-square-meter (64-pyeong) fifth-floor unit also found a new owner last month at 4.8 billion won, up 700 million won from the record high five months earlier. A 120-square-meter (49-pyeong) third-floor unit changed hands at 3.85 billion won, up 680 million won from the record high eight months earlier. The sale price for 83 square meters (34 pyeong) hit 2.93 billion won in July this year, and since October it has been changing hands at 2.87 billion to 2.9 billion won.
The local real estate industry said a persistent shortage of listings is due to the Olympic Athletes' and Press Village's strong reconstruction profitability. Its floor area ratio, considered a key indicator of reconstruction profitability, is low at 137%, and it is regarded as having a large land share per household.
A person surnamed A, who runs a real estate agency in the Olympic Plaza Shopping Center near the complex, said, "Among mid-rise apartments in the Gangnam area, the Olympic Athletes' and Press Village Apartment complex has the second-largest land share after Jamsil Jugong Complex 5, which is known for its large land share," adding, "While the land share for a Jamsil Jugong Apartment 84-square-meter exclusive unit was about 74.25 square meters (22.5 pyeong), the same exclusive area at the Olympic Athletes' and Press Village is also relatively high at around 68.64 square meters (20.8 pyeong)."
The rapid pace of the reconstruction push is another reason listings have vanished from the complex. Starting at the end of September, within a month of beginning to collect consent forms for the formation of the reconstruction promotion committee, it secured 4,300 forms, achieving a 70% consent rate.
Another real estate agent in Bangi-dong said, "There are no listings at all for 62–84 square meters, and for 83 square meters, aside from one urgent sale at 3 billion won, asking prices have climbed to 3.1–3.2 billion won," adding, "For 100 square meters, asking prices have settled at 3.3–3.4 billion won."
The person said, "Olympic Park Foreon, rebuilt from the Dunchon Jugong Apartment complex in Dunchon-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, and occupied in November last year with more than 12,000 households, is also seeing 84-square-meter units transact at 3.3 billion won," adding, "Owners at the Olympic Athletes' and Press Village Apartment complex expect prices to rise that much once it becomes a new apartment like Olympic Park Foreon, so unless they urgently need cash, they feel no need to sell."