Neighborhoods once dismissed as Seoul's outskirts are now carrying price tags that rival Gangnam. The 2 billion won benchmark for a standard-sized apartment is no longer confined to the Han River waterfront.
Twenty-one areas in the greater Seoul region recorded top transaction prices above 2 billion won for apartments with a floor area of 84 square meters this year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price disclosure system on the 1st. That is five more than last year. Seongbuk and Dongdaemun districts in Seoul, along with Dongtan in Hwaseong, Yeongtong in Suwon and Sujeong district in Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province, joined the list for the first time.
Seongbuk district is the most prominent newcomer. An 84-square-meter unit at Raemian Gileum Centerpiece in Gireum-dong sold for 2 billion won in July. That exceeds by more than 300 million won the 1.665 billion won that had been the district's high for the same size last year. The threshold fell just a month after Lotte Castle Clasia hit 1.91 billion won in June.
Cheongnyangni Station Lotte Castle in Jeonnong-dong, Dongdaemun district, changed hands at 2.14 billion won, and Geumho Byeoksan in Geumho-dong, Seongdong district, at 2 billion won. In Gyeonggi Province, Nature & Hillstate in Suwon's Yeongtong district traded at 2.1 billion won, the first case in the southern part of the province.
Other complexes are on the verge of crossing the line. Magok M Valley Complex 7 in Magok-dong, Gangseo district, set a record high of 1.96 billion won, and Munrae Xi in Munrae-dong, Yeongdeungpo district, reached 1.95 billion won. DMC Central Xi in Jeungsan-dong, Eunpyeong district, sold for 1.91 billion won on the 4th of this month, up more than 100 million won in a single month.
Shindorim 4th e-Pyeonhansesang in Shindorim-dong, Guro district, recorded 1.89 billion won, while Cheolsan Xi The Heritage in Cheolsan-dong, Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, hit 1.92 billion won. Asking prices at Cheolsan Xi The Heritage have already passed 2 billion won.
Jungnang Transactions Jump 2.4-Fold as Gangnam Listings Pile Up
Prices are not the only thing rising. Transactions have also shifted to the outskirts. Seoul city data, based on filings through the 27th, show 5,720 apartment sales in July, up 8.2% from the previous month. The sharpest increase came in Jungnang district, where sales jumped 137.4% to 501 from 211 in June. It was the first time monthly transactions there topped 500 since 2017. Dongjak district followed at 52.3%, then Jung district at 26.3%, Gangbuk at 21.5%, Gwanak at 20.0%, Guro at 19.7% and Geumcheon at 17.3%.
Gangnam moved in the opposite direction. Among the three Gangnam-area districts, only Songpa saw transactions rise, to 302 from 278, while Seocho and Gangnam fell sharply. According to data from property information provider Asil, apartment listings in Gangnam district swelled 15.7% to 10,941 from 9,453 since the 3rd of this month.
Total transactions in Gyeonggi Province fell to 13,820 in July from 16,439 in June, but the southern part of the province was an exception. Osan posted the largest increase, rising 40.4% to 424 from 302, followed by Suwon at 16.9%, Uiwang at 14.9% and Gwangmyeong at 12.9%. In the northern part of the province, transactions rose in Uijeongbu.
A decade ago, the 2 billion won mark for a standard-sized apartment was a Banpo story. The first such sale came in August 2016, when Acro River Park in Banpo-dong, Seocho district, traded at 2.1 billion won. It later spread through Raemian First Age and Apgujeong Hyundai, and in the 2020s across the Han River belt including Mapo, Gangdong, Dongjak and Gwangjin.
Seoul's outer districts and Gyeonggi Province had long been a different world, but that boundary collapsed this year. Analysts attribute the shift to a sense of urgency spreading among buyers in their 30s and 40s who are purchasing homes to live in, driven by the fear that they will never be able to buy if they do not buy now, as both home prices and jeonse deposits climb together.
