Dogok Gaepo Hanshin Apartment in Dogok-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul set a new record price again, sending prices sharply higher. In less than a week, the sale price rose by nearly 300 million won, pushing the price of the 52.73-square-meter (24-pyeong) unit above 3.1 billion won. With reconstruction gaining speed, analysts say expectations for future value are being reflected.
According to the maintenance industry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 20th, transactions for the 52.73-square-meter units at Gaepo Hanshin Apartment took place on the 8th and 14th of this month, successively setting new record prices. On the 8th, a fifth-floor unit sold for 2.88 billion won. That was a record transaction 40 million won higher than the Aug. 5 transaction price of 2.84 billion won. Then on the 14th, a second-floor unit of the same size changed hands for 3.15 billion won, sending the sale price up 270 million won (9.3%) in less than a week. Compared with a first-floor unit of the same size, a low floor, that sold for 2.3 billion won in March, the price has risen 850 million won (36.9%) just this year.
Dogok Gaepo Hanshin is a station-area complex abutting Maebong Station on Seoul Subway Line No. 3. Built in 1985 as dwellings for Korea Exchange Bank employees, it consists of eight buildings with nine floors above ground and 620 households. Its legal dong is Dogok-dong, but because it borders the north side of Yangjaecheon, it has formed similar prices to Gaepo-dong on the south side of Yangjaecheon. The complex name also includes "Gaepo."
The reason Gaepo Hanshin continues to transact at high prices is expectations for reconstruction. It received project implementation approval in 2022 and secured management and disposal approval on the 19th. The current floor area ratio is 145%, but the plan is to raise it to 299.55% and rebuild into 792 households in up to 49 stories. DL E&C, the builder, proposed the complex name "ACRO Dogok." The complex has reportedly already accepted subscription applications from association members. Based on the 52 square meters (24 pyeong), by paying an additional 700 million won in contributions, buyers can receive a new 84-square-meter (34 pyeong), the standard "national" size, apartment.
Ham Young-jin, head of the Woori Bank Real Estate Research Lab, said, "Because it is a station-area location at Maebong Station and, when reconstruction proceeds, there is room for a significant increase in the floor area ratio, there is demand to buy with an eye on future value."
Gaepo Jugong Complex 5, which faces Gaepo Hanshin Apartment across Yangjaecheon, is also changing hands for more than 3 billion won. On Nov. 8, a 53.98-square-meter unit sold for 3.33 billion won. A unit of the same size transacted for 2.96 billion won on Sept. 14, meaning the sale price rose 370 million won (12.5%) in two months. Located at 187 Gaepo-dong, Gaepo Jugong Complex 5 is an apartment complex completed in 1983. With management and disposal approval in hand, it is set for reconstruction, with plans to reshape the current six buildings and 940 households into 14 buildings and 1,279 households. Daewoo E&C, the builder, proposed the complex name "Gaepo Summit 187."
Shim Hyeong-seok, head of the Udabang Research Institute (professor at IAU in the U.S.), said, "There is almost no new construction in nearby areas, and apartments around Daechi-dong are still in the early stages of reconstruction, so reconstruction apartments in the Maebong Station and Gaepo areas, where reconstruction is relatively faster, are drawing market attention."