As major apartment redevelopment projects in Seoul's Gangnam District get on track, flagship reconstruction complexes are setting unprecedented records. Recently, the average price of rebuilt apartments in Gangnam topped 1 billion won per 3.3 square meters (pyeong) for the first time. We looked at the initial sale prices and today's market prices of leading reconstruction complexes such as Apgujeong Hyundai and Eunma Apartments, which were built on the dusty fields of Gangnam half a century ago.
Apgujeong Hyundai went beyond a simple residential complex to reshape the map of wealthy neighborhoods in Korea. Beginning with phases 1 and 2 in 1976 and continuing through 1987, 6,335 households moved into 83 buildings across 14 complexes. Using Nonhyeon-ro, which runs past Apgujeong Station toward the Han River, Apgujeong District 3 (Gu Hyundai) lies to the east and Apgujeong District 2 (Shin Hyundai) faces it to the west.
According to newspaper ads, the initial sale price in 1976 for a unit in the 30-pyeong range was 8.65 million won, or about 280,000 won per pyeong. Considering that a first-year civil servant's total annual pay was around 500,000 won at the time, it was expensive even then. About 50 years later, Apgujeong Hyundai's price has risen to 700 times the initial sale price. An 82-square-meter unit in Apgujeong Hyundai Phase 3 sold for 6.07 billion won last November, setting a new transaction record.
Paradoxically, what made today's Apgujeong Hyundai was a kind of "scandal" that erupted in 1978. In the early days, unsold inventory emerged at Apgujeong Hyundai due to high sale prices and poor infrastructure. But when it became known that politicians and senior civil servants—members of the so-called social elite—had received preferential allocations there, the complex's standing rose sharply. Then, buoyed by the real estate boom in Gangnam in the 1980s, it cemented its status as synonymous with an affluent neighborhood, with prices reaching about 9.4 million won per 3.3 square meters in 1989.
Along with Apgujeong Hyundai, Eunma Apartments in Daechi-dong, another byword for Gangnam home prices, rose 183-fold over about 40 years. An 84-square-meter Eunma unit set a reported-price record when a sale contract was signed for 4.31 billion won (13th floor) last October. The 1979 sale price was 23.39 million won, or 680,000 won per 3.3 square meters. Considering that the average household income then was around 140,000 won, this, too, was quite high.
When it was completed in 1979, the large complex of more than 4,000 households built on the marshy banks of Yangjaecheon struggled in a "swamp of unsold units." The price was high and there were so many units that half went unsold. But things changed as prestigious schools transferred to Gangnam and the Daechi-dong private education district formed. In particular, when the college entrance exam was set at a high level of difficulty at the end of 2001 and the importance of private education became pressing, parents and students flocked to Daechi-dong, and Eunma apartment prices skyrocketed.
In this way, the seeds of reconstruction sown 50 years ago have, over time, produced a phenomenon in which the value of aging complexes increasingly outstrips that of general apartments. The market's appetite for reconstruction complexes shows clearly in recent statistics. Especially as maintenance projects get on track and expectations for new builds are priced in, the gap with general apartments is widening to an unprecedented degree.
According to Real Estate R114, the average sale price per 3.3 square meters of rebuilt apartments in Gangnam District last year was 107.84 million won. That was up 16.7% from 2024 (92.43 million won). Compared with 2015 (35.1 million won), 10 years ago, it nearly tripled. By contrast, the average price per 3.3 square meters of general apartments in Gangnam, excluding rebuilt apartments, was 84.79 million won—about 23.05 million won lower than rebuilt apartments. The price gap between rebuilt and general apartments widened more than 3.5 times in 10 years, from 5.11 million won in 2015.
The real estate industry sees the phenomenon intensifying as long-stalled reconstruction projects start to gain speed. Recently, apartments around Apgujeong-dong have been successively moving to select builders. District 4 has announced a bid for a builder, and Districts 3 and 5—considered the largest prizes in Apgujeong reconstruction—are also preparing. Last year, District 2 (Shin Hyundai Phases 9, 11 and 12), which is moving the fastest, selected Hyundai Engineering & Construction as the builder.
Although discussions on reconstruction began in 1996, Eunma Apartments, which had drifted for decades, finally started moving again after 30 years. The 35-story height limit was lifted in 2022, and a review of changes to the maintenance plan passed in December last year. Eunma Apartments is expected to be reborn with a maximum of 49 stories and a total of 5,893 households, including 1,090 public housing units.
A maintenance industry official said, "Gangnam reconstruction complexes were not just older builds; based on the unchanging values of riverfront location and school districts, they have been indicators symbolizing the flow of wealth in South Korea over the past 50 years," adding, "as the scarcity of new builds is layered on top, asset polarization is hardening."