Ministry Reveals Apartment Price Data

For the first time, the real trading price of 129,000 apartments traded during the first half of this year (from January to June) has been disclosed.

With the disclosure, people seeking to buy an apartment can compare the price that the house owner offered with its real trade price before buying it.

The Ministry of Construction & Transportation made public on August 24 the real trade price of apartments in 2,896 apartment complexes, which are relatively large and actively traded among the entire 237,000 apartments traded until June across the nation.

However, the real trade price disclosed this time only includes the date the trade concluded and the price of the apartment, and does not reflect other factors influencing price of buildings such as the story, direction, view and location of the house, and whether the interior of the house is remodeled.

In more than a few cases, the real trade price of apartments in many complexes was 10 to 15 percent lower than the prices presented by agencies specialized in offering market prices.

For example, the 16-pyeong apartments in the Jugong 2nd apartment complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi province were traded with 550 million won on average in June, lower than the 600 million won offered by such agencies as market price.

Meanwhile, there were cases that the real trade price was higher than the offered market price such as 32-pyeong Misung apartments in Apgujeong, one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Seoul, which traded at an average of 809.92 million won in June, compared to the offered market price of 775.04 to 800 million won)

By district, the real trade price of apartments in three districts in southern Seoul, such as Gangnam, Seocho, and Songpa fell 14.4 percent, which is three million won per pyeong, from 22.52 million won per pyeong in March to 19.27 million won per pyeong in June. Also, five newly developed cities such as Bundang, Ilsan, Pyeongchon, Sanbon, and Jungdong in Gyeonggi province also witnessed the real trade price of apartments go down by 16.5 percent from 11.20 million won to 9.35 million won during the same period.

There was not much difference in real trade price of apartments in 14 districts in northern Seoul with 8.72 million won in March and 8.51 million won per pyeong in June and in the nation’s six major cities with 4.05 million won in February and 3.99 million won per pyeong in June.

The Ministry of Construction & Transportation is to disclose real trade price once again in November based on trade concluded during July to September and is planning to disclose the information each month from next year.

The detailed information on real trade price of apartments released by the Ministry is available on both the Ministry’s website (www.moct.go.kr) and this paper’s website (www.donga.com).

higgledy@donga.com