It was found that record-high prices continued at mid- to high-priced apartments within Seoul real estate last year.
According to ZIGBANG CO. on the 19th, the upper end of Seoul apartment prices remained solid last year. However, the price ranges where record highs were set changed by quarter.
In the first quarter last year in Seoul, the share of record highs in the more than 1.5 billion won to 2 billion won range was 3.4%, and the more than 3 billion won range was 3.7%, making the share relatively high in the high-price ranges. With record highs coming from top-tier areas such as the three Gangnam districts, the market was led upward.
However, in the fourth quarter, the share of record highs in the more than 900 million won to 1.2 billion won range grew to 4%, and the more than 1.2 billion won to 1.5 billion won range rose to 5.2%. That means the share of record highs for apartments priced at 1.5 billion won or less was 9.2%. Nearly 1 out of every 10 record highs came from apartments priced at 1.5 billion won or less. In contrast, the more than 3 billion won range, which had a high share of record highs, fell from 3.7% in the first quarter to 2.4% in the fourth quarter.
Kim Eun-seon, head of the big data lab at ZIGBANG CO., said, "Rather than the effect of falling Seoul apartment prices, the impact was greater from changes in lending regulations in an environment where most demand has no choice but to take out loans to enter a transaction because the overall price level is high." Kim added, "Demand with relatively limited financing capacity moved to form transactions in price ranges that are less burdensome than the high-price ranges," and "new transactions and the formation of record highs also occurred in the mid- to high-price ranges."
Meanwhile, the Gyeonggi Province real estate market showed a different picture from Seoul. In the first quarter of 2025, Gyeonggi Province had a distinctly low-price-centered structure, with transactions of 600 million won or less accounting for as much as 66.7%. The first-quarter share of record highs also stayed at 1.5% for 600 million won or less and 0.5% for more than 600 million won to 900 million won or less.
As the year moved into the second half, both the transaction structure and the ranges where record highs were set shifted upward together. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the share of record highs in the more than 900 million won to 1.2 billion won range rose to 1.5%, and the more than 1.2 billion won to 1.5 billion won range also increased to 1%.
Kim said, "Amid a trend of rising price burdens and tighter loan constraints in Seoul, combined with a phase of rising Seoul apartment prices, this result reflects the expansion of transactions in Gyeonggi areas centered on complexes such as new builds or those near subway stations that already had higher price levels."