This month, the rise in Seoul apartment prices widened, but Gangnam District turned downward for the first time in two years.
According to the March nationwide dwellings price trends that KB Real Estate released on the 29th, as of the 16th, Seoul apartment sale prices this month rose 1.43%. Following last month (1.34%), the increase widened for a second straight month.
By district, seven districts were strong with monthly gains of 2% or more: Seongbuk District (2.72%), Dongdaemun District (2.58%), Gwanak District (2.30%), Gangseo District (2.13%), Yeongdeungpo District (2.07%), Seodaemun District (2.01%), and Gangdong District (2.00%).
In contrast, Gangnam District (-0.16%) turned to a decline for the first time in two years since March 2024 (-0.08%). This month, Seocho District (0.42%) and Songpa District (0.64%) also saw their gains slow from the previous month.
The KB Leading Apartments 50 index, which indexes the market cap (households × price) change rate of the top 50 apartment complexes, was 132.4, down 0.9 points from the previous month (133.3), marking a decline for the first time in 2 years and 1 month since February 2024.
KB Real Estate said that ahead of the end of the temporary suspension of heavier capital gains taxes for multiple-home owners, transactions focused on quick sales in high-priced, large-scale apartment complexes, leading to a steep drop in prices.
Outside Seoul in the greater metropolitan area, apartment prices in Gyeonggi Province and Incheon rose 0.58% and 0.07%, respectively, this month. In Gyeonggi, the regulated areas (adjustment target areas and speculative zones) of Anyang's Dongan District (2.73%), Gwangmyeong (2.65%), Yongin's Sujin District (2.62%), Hanam (2.40%), and Seongnam's Jungwon District (2.26%) each posted monthly gains of more than 2%.
Apartment price growth in the five metropolitan cities (Gwangju, Daejeon, Daegu, Ulsan, and Busan) and in other provinces (eight provinces) was 0.12% and 0.00% (flat), respectively.
This month, apartment jeonse prices rose 0.43% nationwide, 0.61% in the greater Seoul area, 0.32% in the five metropolitan cities, and 0.23% in other provinces. In the greater Seoul area, Seoul (0.75%), Gyeonggi (0.59%), and Incheon (0.37%) saw the largest jeonse price increases in that order. In Seoul, Nowon District (1.54%), Dobong District (1.34%), Jung District (1.31%), and Dongdaemun District (1.12%) recorded gains in the 1% range.
In addition, nationwide dwellings sale prices and jeonse prices, including detached, multi-household, multifamily, and row houses along with apartments, rose 0.35% and 0.31%, respectively, this month.
This month, the nationwide dwellings sale price outlook index was 99.9, down 4.1 points from the previous month, while the jeonse price outlook index rose 0.4 point over the same period to 115.9.
In Seoul, the dwellings sale price outlook index was 100.8, down 10.0 points from last month (110.8), falling for a second straight month. By contrast, Seoul's dwellings jeonse price outlook index rose 2.6 points over the same period to 125.4, exceeding the baseline (100) for the 14th straight month, indicating a higher share expecting jeonse price increases.