Seoul's commercial and office building market has maintained a stable flow, holding transaction volumes in the range of 1.6 trillion to 1.7 trillion won for five consecutive months. In particular, a series of hotel asset transactions has emerged as a core trading asset in the commercial real estate market.
On the 9th, an analysis of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's (MOLIT) actual transaction price data by RSQUARE, a commercial real estate services company, found that Seoul's commercial and office real estate transaction volume in May reached 1.772 trillion won across 171 transactions. Compared with the same period a year earlier (921.5 billion won, 145 transactions), transaction volume rose 92.3% and the number of transactions increased 17.9%.
Monthly transaction volumes have held at stable levels without major fluctuations, at 1.6529 trillion won in January, 1.6108 trillion won in February, 1.6725 trillion won in March, 1.7664 trillion won in April, and 1.772 trillion won in May. While transaction volume has continued at similar levels, the types of assets driving deals and the largest transactions have varied each month.
Based on general buildings excluding sectional buildings, the largest May transaction was 'Orange Center,' an office asset located in Sunhwa-dong, Jung-gu, which traded for approximately 350 billion won. This was the largest commercial and office real estate transaction in Seoul from January to May this year.
Hotel asset transactions were also active. The 'voco Seoul Myeongdong Hotel' in Hoehyeon-dong 1-ga, Jung-gu traded for approximately 291.3 billion won, and the 'Novotel Ambassador' in Doksan-dong, Geumcheon-gu traded for approximately 87.5 billion won, ranking second and third in May transaction volume.
"May transaction volume showed a stable flow in the high 1 trillion won range," an RSQUARE official said. "It remains to be seen whether hotel assets, which have been steadily trading since late last year, will maintain their presence in the market going forward."
