Nationwide real estate transactions in the first quarter rose 3.5% in volume from the previous quarter, but the total transaction value fell 7.9%. Analysts attribute the divergence to gains in both volume and value for non-apartment residential properties such as row houses and multiplex homes, offset by declines in larger-ticket commercial and office buildings as well as retail and office spaces.
Commercial real estate platform company RealEstate Planet released a report on Monday analyzing first-quarter sales market trends across nine property types nationwide, based on actual transaction data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
According to the report, first-quarter transaction volume across the nine property types totaled 290,509 deals, up 3.5% from 280,677 in the previous quarter. Transaction value, however, fell 7.9% to 109.33 trillion won from 118.74 trillion won over the same period.
Transaction volume rose in six property categories: apartments, factories and warehouses (general), officetels, row houses and multiplex homes, detached and multi-family homes, and land. Row houses and multiplex homes posted the largest gain, rising 12.8% to 25,107 deals from 22,262 in the previous quarter. In absolute terms, apartments accounted for the largest share with 137,670 transactions, up 4.0% from the previous quarter. By contrast, retail and office spaces and factories and warehouses (collective) each fell 4.4%, with 9,867 and 1,134 deals respectively, while commercial and office buildings slipped 1.6% to 3,251 deals.
By transaction value, apartments and officetels recorded 67.01 trillion won and 2.58 trillion won, down 1.8% and 1.4% from the previous quarter, respectively. Factories and warehouses (general) posted the steepest decline at 3.84 trillion won, down 33.8%, followed by commercial and office buildings at 8.18 trillion won, down 26.9%. Row houses and multiplex homes, however, rose 15% to 6.90 trillion won, and detached and multi-family homes gained 3.3% to 4.60 trillion won.
"The first-quarter national real estate sales market saw growth in both volume and value centered on non-apartment residential properties such as row houses and multiplex homes, while commercial real estate continued its sluggish trend," said Jung Soo-min, CEO of RealEstate Planet. "Transactions of non-apartment residential properties appear to have risen as end-user demand, drawn by lower price burdens, continued to drive purchases."
