The share of Seoul residents buying apartments in Gyeonggi Province is rising markedly. As loan regulations make it harder to purchase apartments in Seoul, buyers are shifting to relatively cheaper neighboring areas. Analysts say the influx of Seoul buyers has contributed to rising home prices in Guri, Hanam, Gwangmyeong and Namyangju this year.
According to the Korea Real Estate Board on Tuesday, Seoul residents accounted for 6,862 apartment purchase transactions in Gyeonggi Province during the first three quarters of this year, up 59.1%, or 2,250 transactions, from 4,313 a year earlier. Their share of total sales transactions reached 15.5%, up 2.8 percentage points from 12.6% a year earlier.
The upward trend is also evident on a monthly basis. The share of Seoul residents buying Gyeonggi apartments hovered at 11% to 12% of total transactions last year but climbed above 15% in October and has maintained a gradual uptrend since. In March, Seoul buyers accounted for 15.6% of total transactions, the highest level in three years and two months since January 2023, when the trend of buying "one solid property" began to strengthen. In Incheon, Seoul residents made 766 purchases in the first quarter of this year, up 286 from 480 a year earlier, while their share of total transactions rose to 9.0% from 6.9%.
Experts view the trend less as a "balloon effect" from investors seeking to dodge regulations and more as a movement by owner-occupiers looking to buy their first home. Average apartment prices in Seoul's third quintile surpassed 1.2 billion won as of March, according to KB Real Estate, while loan limits on apartments priced above 1.5 billion won are capped at a maximum of 600 million won. With the threshold for buying Seoul apartments rising, buyers are turning their attention to the city's more affordable outskirts.
In the first quarter of this year, areas where the share of Seoul buyers rose sharply from a year earlier include Guri (21.3% to 36.4%), Hanam (23.6% to 37.5%), Gwangmyeong (28.8% to 38.6%), Namyangju (20.8% to 25.2%) and Bucheon (16.8% to 20.6%). These areas share a common trait: they border Seoul or are considered "quasi-Seoul" zones served by metropolitan transit networks.
These areas have also led price gains in Gyeonggi Province this year, with apartment sale prices rising sharply by 2% to 3%. "Inquiries from young newlywed couples who wanted to buy Seoul apartments but could not meet the price or loan conditions have surged in March and April," said an agent at a brokerage in Mangwol-dong, Hanam. "Prices have also risen sharply recently. The 84-square-meter unit at Misa Gangbyeon Prugio traded at around 1.3 billion won until late last year but surpassed 1.5 billion won last month."
