Apartment prices in Pyeongtaek and Icheon, home to major Samsung Electronics and SK hynix plants, have fallen more than 7% even as prices across the greater Seoul area rose for 66 straight weeks. The gap with Dongtan, another semiconductor hub, now exceeds 1.6 billion won.
Fourteen areas in the greater Seoul region saw apartment prices decline between June 9 last year, shortly after the new administration took office, and Sept. 14 this year, according to the Korea Real Estate Board on the 22nd. Icheon posted the largest drop at 7.28%, followed by Pyeongtaek at 7.17%. That puts them nearly 40 percentage points behind Bundang district in Seongnam, the region's top performer with a 32.54% gain over the same period.
The contrast is starkest in actual transaction prices. An 84-square-meter unit at Godeok International New Town Paragon in Pyeongtaek's Godeok-dong sold for 600 million won in August, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's transaction disclosure system. That is nearly 400 million won below the 2021 peak of 980 million won.
By contrast, an 84-square-meter unit at Dongtan Station Lotte Castle, also regarded as a chipmaking commuter base, changed hands for 2.225 billion won in June, a record high for the complex. Despite the similar floor area, the price gap between the two complexes exceeds 1.6 billion won.
Industry officials point to one reason for the divergence between areas serving the same Samsung Electronics and SK hynix sites: employees at the Pyeongtaek and Icheon plants prioritize amenities over living close to work.
They prefer Dongtan and Yongin, which offer department stores, private tutoring districts and better transit links, leaving demand thin in Pyeongtaek and Icheon where the plants are located. In Pyeongtaek, an unresolved oversupply of new housing has deepened the decline.
Ilsandong and Ilsanseo districts in Goyang, home to the Ilsan new town, also fell 3% to 4% over the same period, unable to shake off weakness despite expectations for rebuilding of the first-generation new towns. Neighboring Paju recorded a 4.54% decline.
Other declining areas included Yeoju at 2.39%, Dongducheon at 1.96%, Ojeong district in Bucheon at 1.74%, Siheung at 1.30% and Anseong at 1.04%. Gimpo and Incheon's Gyeyang district slipped less than 1%.
