The price gap between apartments in areas south and north of the Han River has increasingly widened last month, data showed Wednesday. 

In February, the average price per pyeong (3.31 square meters) for apartments in 11 areas of Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul surpassed 40 million won ($32,372) while apartments in 14 areas in Gangbuk-gu, northern Seoul, recorded 27 million won ($21,851), according to data released by real estate information provider 10000-lab. 

The apartment price gap between Gangnam and Gangbuk last month amounted to nearly 12 million won, up 1.42 million won from 2018 (11 million won). 

Despite the city government’s effort to reduce the price gap to 10.8 million won in 2018 by expanding investments in Gangbuk’s infrastructure, the gap deepened again after apartment prices soared in Gangnam late last year. 

In addition, median apartment price in Gangnam came in at nearly 12 billion won and it almost doubled the number of Gangbuk which stood at 6.7 billion won. The price gap has increased by over 1 billion won compared to 2018 (4.4 billion won). 

“The widening gap is mainly due to increasing demand for apartments in the affluent Gangnam region with more supply of reconstructed or new apartments,” said Seo Jin-hyung, head of the Korea Real Estate Society. 

By Choi Jae-hee (cjh@heraldcorp.com)