Byeongjeom District in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, has begun to stir after neighboring Dongtan District came under government restrictions. One apartment there gained nearly 170 million won in two months, and listings are disappearing fast.
Apartment prices in Byeongjeom District rose 1.31% in July from a month earlier, according to the Korea Real Estate Board on the 4th. Monthly gains had hovered in the 0.2% to 0.3% range early this year before jumping to 0.90% in June, then accelerating further in July. Transactions in the same month totaled 535, up 37.9% from June and 127.7% from February, when 235 deals were recorded.
An 84-square-meter unit at Byeongjeom Station I'Park Castle in Byeongjeom-dong sold for 925 million won on the 11th, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's transaction disclosure system showed. That marks a gain of 155 million won, or 20.1%, from the 770 million won paid for a unit of the same size in late June.
Prices climbed further, with another 84-square-meter unit in the same complex trading at 938 million won on the 29th of last month — a 168 million won increase in two months. A 75-square-meter unit at Banjeong I'Park Castle Complex 5 in Banjeong-dong set a record at 865 million won, 85 million won above its previous transaction price.
The driver is a spillover effect from the Dongtan restrictions. On June 30, the government designated Hwaseong's Dongtan District as an area subject to adjustment measures, a speculative overheating zone and a land transaction permit zone.
After the designation, buyer inquiries in Byeongjeom District — which borders Dongtan and remains unrestricted — rose 1.5-fold. Owners pulled listings priced in the 700 million won range and raised asking prices by 50 million won each, clearing out that price band and pushing deals into the 800 million won range. Listings in Byeongjeom District fell 13.3% to 1,558 this month from 1,796 on July 1, according to apartment data platform Asil.
Location explains why Byeongjeom is absorbing demand. Sitting between Dongtan and Suwon, it shares the Dongtan living area while carrying relatively lower home prices. Hahm Young-jin, head of Woori Bank's real estate research lab, said the district has access to the Suin-Bundang Line and Line 1, and that expectations for improved transit from the GTX-C line's Suwon Station opening are being priced in.
A Samsung Electronics factor has been added to the mix. Starting this month, Samsung Electronics is offering in-house housing loans of up to 500 million won at 1.5% annual interest to employees who, along with their spouses, do not own a home and are buying a house priced at 2.5 billion won or less. Analysts say that if low-cost funds flow into Byeongjeom and Dongtan, both near Samsung Electronics' Hwaseong campus, additional buying could follow.
Market watchers see a strong chance the Dongtan restrictions will fuel buying in Byeongjeom, noting that spillover effects sending demand into adjacent unrestricted areas have repeated in the past.
