After a roughly 40-minute drive from Yeouido in Seoul, exiting at the Cheongna interchange revealed a long stretch of massive construction barriers. The Hana Financial Town headquarters building, nearing completion in the first half of this year, stood imposingly at 15 stories. Construction was in full swing for Starfield Cheongna, a mega mixed-use leisure complex connecting a 23,000-seat domed stadium with a shopping mall. Venturing deeper into the city, the Cheongna Sky Bridge came into view, stretching far across the sea. Opened in January this year, the bridge cut travel time between Cheongna and Incheon International Airport to around 20 minutes.
Cheongna, which has established itself as the leading residential city in northwestern Incheon with 110,000 residents over the 16 years since its first apartment move-ins in 2010, has reached a new inflection point. Starting with Hana Financial Group's headquarters move this year, followed by the opening of Seoul Line 7 extension and Starfield next year, and the opening of Seoul Asan Cheongna Hospital in 2029, the city is accelerating its transformation into a fully self-sufficient city by progressively building out business, transportation, medical, and lifestyle infrastructure.
As major transportation network expansions and landmark development projects that had remained at the planning stage are now materializing, the local real estate market is buzzing with activity. Apartment prices are recovering rapidly. According to KB Real Estate data released on the 24th, the average apartment sale price in Incheon's Seo-gu district, home to Cheongna International City, fell after peaking in 2022 but has gradually recovered since around May 2023, reaching 18.57 million won per 3.3 square meters as of February this year — surpassing its previous high. This contrasts with Songdo International City in Incheon's Yeonsu-gu district, which showed a similar price trajectory but remains at an average of 22.15 million won per 3.3 square meters, still below its peak of around 24 million won. The price gap between the two areas has narrowed from around 5 million won per 3.3 square meters in 2022 to approximately 3.5 million won.
Transactions are also relatively more active on the Cheongna side. According to the Korea Real Estate Board, apartment sales in Incheon's Seo-gu district totaled 7,105 units last year, outpacing the 5,397 units traded in Yeonsu-gu. In a recent example, an 84-square-meter unit at Cheongna Hanyang Sujain Lake Blue, where residents moved in starting 2019, was sold for 980 million won in January, marking the highest price in three and a half years since June 2022. A 94-square-meter unit at Cheongna Prugio also traded at 950 million won, putting it on the verge of re-entering the "1 billion won club."
The successive completion of major development projects every year from this year through 2029 is seen as the driving force behind rising home prices. While development in Songdo International City and Yeongjong Sky City — the other two pillars of the Incheon Free Economic Zone alongside Cheongna International City — has essentially been completed, Cheongna is just getting started. In particular, when Hana Financial Group (086790.KS) opens its headquarters in the second half of this year, approximately 2,800 employees from subsidiaries including its banking and credit card units will begin commuting to Cheongna, bringing the total workforce in the area to 6,000 when combined with existing workers. Transportation improvements are another key catalyst. Following the January opening of the Cheongna Sky Bridge connecting Yeongjong Island and Cheongna, the first phase of the Seoul Metro Line 7 extension to Cheongna is set to open by the end of next year. Once Cheongna is connected nonstop through Incheon's old downtown to Nonhyeon Station in Seoul's Gangnam district, the area is expected to attract attention as a residential base for Seoul and Incheon commuters.
Market interest has recently extended to officetels and office space as well. No new apartment supply has entered Cheongna International City since December 2021, leaving virtually no unsold inventory. Mid-to-large-sized officetels, often called apartment alternatives, have sequentially filled the supply gap, but after the sale of Cheongna Peak One Prugio (1,056 units) in July last year, large branded officetel supply is also trending downward for the time being.
With the sequential completion of Starfield, Robot Land, and Seoul Asan Cheongna Hospital expected to significantly increase the working population — potentially pushing up sale prices and rents — inquiries have been rising for recently completed projects such as Cheongna Hanyang Sujain D'estin. A local real estate agent said, "Cheongna's advantage is its large young population, and they are also very interested in officetels that offer high residential convenience. Once Metro Line 7 opens, there is a strong possibility that office demand from Incheon's old downtown will shift here as well."