Just before the government unveiled its plan to expand the supply of dwellings on Aug. 13, apartment sale and jeonse prices in the greater Seoul area continued to rise.
According to the artificial intelligence (AI) price survey by the real estate information company Budongsan114, nationwide apartment sale prices rose 0.12% in the second week of August from the previous week. By region, Seoul climbed 0.13% and Gyeonggi Province rose 0.23%, leading the overall uptrend.
In contrast, the metropolitan cities (-0.01%) and the rest of the provincial regions (-0.03%) all turned downward. In particular, Sejong City fell 0.25% in a week, recording the steepest drop nationwide.
The rental market also maintained an upward tone. During the same period, nationwide apartment jeonse prices rose 0.15%. Seoul's jeonse prices climbed 0.25%, showing the steepest increase, and Gyeonggi Province also jumped 0.15%. The provincial metropolitan cities (0.05%) and other provincial areas (0.03%) rose slightly as well, and unlike the sale market, there were no local governments across the country that saw declines in jeonse prices.
A Budongsan114 official said, "The Aug. 13 supply measures announced after a series of large-scale public forums include a raft of more forward-leaning deregulations than before, allowing for a positive evaluation from a 'supply at all costs' perspective that government officials have mentioned," adding, "For the measures to increase supply speed through the meticulous repeal of various regulations in this plan to proceed as scheduled, not only the government and relevant ministries but also local governments must cooperate across party lines so that actual supply expansion can be achieved."