Apartment prices in Seoul's Mapo district are rising fast enough to narrow the gap with some older and rebuilding-stage complexes in the Gangnam area. The right to an 84-square-meter unit in a newly built complex — a transferable claim to the completed apartment, akin to ownership before registration — changed hands for close to 3.2 billion won ($2.2 million), approaching prices in Gangnam, where values have been correcting since the government unveiled its tax overhaul. Some analysts expect the gap to narrow further if buying interest strengthens in districts along the Han River belt, such as Mapo and Seongdong, where increases in property-holding and capital-gains tax burdens are relatively smaller.
The right to an 84-square-meter unit at Mapo Xi Hillstate Lachels in Gongdeok-dong traded at 3.18 billion won on Sept. 11, a record high, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price disclosure system on Oct. 6. The same unit size sold for 3.06 billion won in February, the first time a mid-size unit in Mapo topped 3 billion won, and the new record came just seven months later.
When the complex went on sale in 2024, presale prices for 84-square-meter units ranged from 1.6 billion to 1.7 billion won. Current prices for the right to the unit are close to double that level after about two years. An official at a nearby brokerage said asking prices now run from 3.1 billion to 3.3 billion won after the 3.18 billion won deal, adding that transactions below 3 billion won look unlikely except for low-floor units.
Mapo's overall price trend also contrasts with Gangnam's. Apartment sale prices in Mapo rose 0.08% in the fourth week of September from a week earlier, accelerating from 0.06% the previous week, according to the Korea Real Estate Board. The cumulative gain this year reaches 8.37%.
Over the same period, Gangnam apartment prices fell 0.56%, a steeper drop than the previous week's 0.42% decline. On a cumulative basis, they are down 0.26% this year. Seocho and Songpa districts have gained 1.36% and 5.13% respectively since the start of the year, both short of Mapo's increase.
The gains are not limited to the rights to units in new complexes. Older apartments have also logged a string of record prices. A 73-square-meter unit at Seogang Obelisk Suite in Changjeon-dong sold for 1.52 billion won on Sept. 29, a record high. A 191-square-meter unit at Lotte Castle President in Gongdeok-dong traded at 3 billion won on Sept. 15, also surpassing its previous peak.
With the rights to Mapo's new 84-square-meter units approaching 3.2 billion won, some say prices have reached a level comparable to certain rebuilding complexes in Gangnam. Direct comparisons based on transaction prices alone are difficult, because rebuilding projects involve variables such as additional contributions from association members, relocation periods and move-in timing. For housing buyers, however, the two have entered a price range where both can be weighed as actual purchase options.
An 83-square-meter unit at Gaepo Jugong 6, a rebuilding project in Gangnam's Gaepo-dong, traded at 3.25 billion won on Sept. 21. An 83-square-meter unit at Gaepo Jugong 7 changed hands for 3.4 billion won on Sept. 26. A 76-square-meter unit at Eunma Apartments in Daechi-dong sold for 3.13 billion won on Sept. 29, while a nearby 83-square-meter unit at Ssangyong Daechi recorded an actual transaction price of 3.6 billion won in the same month.
In some cases, the gap is also narrow against existing apartments in the Gangnam area, including Seocho and Songpa. An 84-square-meter unit at Dogok Rexle in Gangnam's Dogok-dong, completed in 2006, sold for 3.57 billion won last month. An 84-square-meter unit at Jamsil Elsse in Songpa's Jamsil-dong, occupied from 2008, traded at 3.325 billion won on Sept. 12 and 3.29 billion won on Oct. 5. An 84-square-meter unit at Seocho Raemian in Seocho-dong, completed in 2003 and now pursuing remodeling, changed hands for 2.835 billion won on Sept. 18.
A similar pattern appears among Seoul's higher-priced apartments. While gains at the very top have slowed, prices in the bracket just below have climbed faster, narrowing the gap somewhat.
The average price of apartments in the top quintile, representing the top 20%, moved sideways or rose moderately this year in a range of 3.44 billion to 3.47 billion won, according to KB Real Estate. The average price in the fourth quintile, covering the top 20% to 40%, rose 8.8% from 1.71911 billion won at the start of the year to 1.86998 billion won in September. In other words, the second-highest price bracket rose relatively faster than the top.
Experts point to the scarcity of new construction, locational competitiveness and the effects of the tax overhaul as factors behind Mapo new-build prices approaching 3.2 billion won. Yoon Su-min, senior real estate specialist at NH NongHyup Bank, said scarcity as a new build combined strongly with locational competitiveness, while the impact of measures such as the tax overhaul appears to have been limited.
Others say it is too early to read this as Mapo and Gangnam prices beginning to overlap in earnest. Ham Young-jin, head of the real estate research lab at Woori Bank, said a premium has attached to the complex because the Gongdeok-dong area has many aging apartments, most of them more than 20 years old, making new supply a rarity. The lab head added that differences in location and buyer preference remain against Gangnam, noting that 84-square-meter units at DH Bangbae in Seocho's Bangbae-dong, which has a similar move-in timeline, trade at around 3.9 billion won, leaving a price gap.
Yoon said simple price comparisons with Gangnam rebuilding complexes are difficult, but that when costs and variables tied to rebuilding, such as additional contributions, are factored in, Mapo and Yongsan have risen to a price range where they can serve as alternatives to Gangnam.
