SEJONG -- South Korea saw the cost of housing climb across the nation during the second half of the year, with prices in six of the eight major cities posting growth of more than 8 percent since July.

Sejong topped the list among the eight major cities and nine provinces in the nation as the average price of housing in the administrative city surged 28.4 percent in less than six months.

According to KB Kookmin Bank and Naver.com, Sejong’s average trading price, which posted 15.54 million won per 3.3 square meters on July 17, had jumped to 19.96 million won ($14,200 to $18,200) on Dec. 11.

This was mainly attributed to remarks by some ruling party politicians during summer, suggesting the need to relocate the administrative capital from Seoul to Sejong, where 12 of the 18 ministries are headquartered.

“Alongside apartment prices in downtown Sejong, land prices in rural districts (of the city) have shot up,” said a real estate agent in Eojin-dong, where the government complex is located.

One person said she purchased a 100-square-meter apartment unit in downtown Sejong’s Dodam-dong for 650 million won last year, after selling an apartment in Daejeon. “(A same-sized unit at the complex) was recently traded at 1.28 billion won.”
 

A Sejong resident who had used “jeonse,” a Korean rental system involving lump-sum deposits, for years said he moved to an apartment near Sejong City Hall earlier this month.

The initial parcel price of his 105-square-meter apartment unit, bought via the lottery of apartment subscription system in 2018, was 424 million won. But the asking price is projected to hover around at least 1.2 billion won, given prices of neighboring apartments, though there is no trade record yet in the new complex.

Given that the average price in Sejong was 11.64 million won per 3.3 square meters on Nov. 29, 2019, the city’s housing prices have soared by 71.4 percent in about a year.

Busan ranked second among the eight major cities, as it posted a 16.7 percent growth over the corresponding July 17-Dec. 11 period, with the average price rising from 10.03 million won per 3.3 square meters to 11.71 million won. Ulsan placed at third with a 14.7 percent growth to 927 million won.

Seoul, which had already posted skyrocketing housing prices over the past three years, ranked fourth with a 9.4 percent advance -- from 30.85 million to 33.75 million won.

Compared to May 2017, when the Moon Jae-in administration took office, many apartment complexes in the capital recorded surges of 70 to 100 percent in average trading prices.

The average price for 72-square-meter units of an apartment complex in Banpo-dong, Seoul (the smallest type in the complex) -- which is under reconstruction -- posted an average price jump of 144 percent from about 900 million won in 2015 during the previous Park Geun-hye administration to 2.2 billion won as of this year.

Following were Daejeon, which posted an 8.6 percent growth to 10.82 million won per 3.3 square meters, Daegu with 8.5 percent to 10.75 million won, Gwangju with 4.6 percent to 8.25 million won and Incheon with 3.5 percent to 10.79 million won.

Among the nine provinces, Gyeonggi Province was No. 1, as its average price of housing climbed 10.2 percent from 13.59 million on July 17 to 14.98 million won on Dec. 11.

Jeju Province, which suffered a drop during the first half, saw prices rise 3.3 percent to 11.97 million won over the same period.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)