Apartment price gains in southern Gyeonggi Province are spreading beyond Dongtan in Hwaseong to neighboring areas such as Byeongjeom. As home prices climb sharply in major residential districts including Yeongtong in Suwon, Dongtan and Bundang in Seongnam, buying demand is shifting to surrounding areas where prices are less burdensome.
Apartment prices in Hwaseong's Byeongjeom district rose 0.65% from the previous week, according to weekly apartment price data for the third week of October, based on the 19th, released by the Korea Real Estate Board on the 22nd. The gain widened by 0.09 percentage points from 0.56% a week earlier, ranking first not only in Gyeonggi Province but across the entire capital area. Dongtan district, which had been leading the upturn, saw its increase narrow slightly to 0.57% from 0.66%.
High-priced transactions are continuing at major complexes in the Byeongjeom area. An 84-square-meter unit at Byeongjeom Station I'Park Castle in Byeongjeom-dong, Hwaseong, sold for 1.03 billion won ($718,000) on the 1st of this month. That is 130 million won higher than a unit of the same size that traded at 900 million won on the 20th of last month. Another unit changed hands at 1 billion won on the 12th of this month.
Other parts of southern Gyeonggi were also strong. Dongan district in Anyang rose 0.56%, Gunpo 0.53% and Uiwang 0.47%, while Yeongtong district in Suwon, up 0.52%, and Bundang district in Seongnam, up 0.53%, maintained high growth rates. In Osan, which borders Byeongjeom, the increase widened to 0.24% from 0.13%.
Southern Gyeonggi also stands out in cumulative gains this year. Dongtan district in Hwaseong has risen 20.83% since February, when separate statistics began to be compiled for the district. Yeongtong district in Suwon, up 16.80%, Bundang district in Seongnam, up 16.63%, and Dongan district in Anyang, up 16.45%, also posted double-digit gains.
Nam Hyuk-woo, a researcher at Woori Bank's real estate research institute, said that as prices remain strong in sought-after residential areas supporting the semiconductor industry in southern Gyeonggi, including Suwon, tenants whose leases are expiring and people buying a home to live in whose purchasing power has weakened are moving to nearby areas.
Seoul apartment prices rose for an 89th consecutive week, setting a record for the longest run of gains in the board's data. The increase slowed to 0.13% this week from 0.16% a week earlier. Seongbuk and Seodaemun districts tied for first place, each up 0.36%, followed by Jung district at 0.35% and Dobong district at 0.33%. Jungnang and Nowon districts, which topped the list last week, saw their gains narrow to 0.31% and 0.26%, respectively.
The three districts of southern Seoul continued to decline. Seocho district fell 0.32%, a steeper drop than the 0.27% decline a week earlier, while Gangnam district slid 0.31% and Songpa district 0.13%. Nam said the pace of decline in Gangnam and Songpa had eased as distressed listings at some aging apartment complexes slated for rebuilding were absorbed, but that buyers overall remain on the sidelines. He said that with macro variables such as policy uncertainty and interest rate increases still in play, slower transactions and soft prices are likely to continue for some time.