Five of the 10 apartment complexes with the most sales in Seoul this year were in Nowon District. In recent years, Songpa District's "Elite Repa (Els, Ricenz, Trizium, Lake Palace, Parkrio)" dominated the top ranks, but this year the trend has shifted rapidly as buyers move to outer areas of Seoul such as Gangbuk, Seongbuk, and Gwanak districts.
According to the real estate big data platform Asil on the 14th, five of the 10 Seoul apartment complexes with the most sales contracts this year were in Nowon District.
Among them, the busiest for transactions was "Seoul One I'Park" in Wolgye-dong (No. 2, 71 deals). Seoul One I'Park is a large complex under development within the Gwangun University station area project in Wolgye-dong, Nowon District (completion in July 2028), and sales of presale and move-in rights are active. Next were "Harrington Place Nowon Central" in Sanggye-dong (No. 4, 62 deals), "Sanggye Jugong Complex 9" (No. 6, 54 deals), "Sanggye Jugong Complex 7" (No. 7, 53 deals), and "Junggye Mujigae" in Junggye-dong (No. 8, 49 deals).
This contrasts with last year, when half of the top 10 by transactions were in Songpa District. The apartment with the most transactions during the same period last year (Jan. 1–April 13) was "Parkrio" in Sincheon-dong, Songpa District (172 deals). Others were "Helio City" in Garak-dong (No. 2, 159 deals), "Ricenz" in Jamsil-dong (No. 5, 95 deals), "Olympic Athletes' Press Village" in Bangi-dong (No. 6, 89 deals), and "Jamsil Els" in Jamsil-dong (No. 8, 88 deals). Among Nowon District apartments, only "Miseong·Miryung·Samho 3rd" in Wolgye-dong (No. 29, 54 deals) made the top 30.
The decline in Songpa District apartment sales is seen as stemming from direct regulatory hits that froze the high-end apartment market. End users are flocking to mid- to low-priced complexes where they can maximize a mortgage loan. Under the Oct. 15 real estate measures announced last year, the apartment price must be 1.5 billion won or less to borrow up to 600 million won in a mortgage loan. According to the Seoul Real Estate Information Plaza, the average transaction amount for Nowon District apartments last month was 641.08 million won. Nam Hyuk-woo of the Woori Bank Real Estate Research Institute said, "In outer areas of Seoul, sales are concentrating on apartments around 600 million won where policy loans can be used." The representative policy loan products are Bogeumjari Loan and Didimdol Loan, which allow borrowing for up to 50 years at low interest in the 2–3% range annually.
A tight jeonse market is also cited as a cause. Nowon District recorded the steepest drop in jeonse listings this year. According to Asil, Nowon District apartment jeonse supply fell 71.9% from 686 listings on Jan. 1 to 193 as of the previous day. Given the situation, some analysts say more people are turning straight to purchases.
An employee at a real estate brokerage in Nowon District said, "As finding a jeonse place has become like picking stars from the sky, more people in their 20s and 30s are just maxing out loans to buy a home," adding, "Because they don't have much saved, they mainly look for apartments under 1 billion won, and most of those complexes are in Nowon and Gangbuk District."