As apartment prices in the flagship complexes of Dongtan district in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, surpassed 2.2 billion won, buying interest is spreading to the nearby, relatively affordable areas of Byeongjeom-dong and Osan.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's (MOLIT) real transaction price disclosure system on the 21st, an 84-square-meter unit at Byeongjeom Station I'Park Castle in Byeongjeom-dong, Hwaseong, sold for 850 million won on the 13th. Units of the same size traded at 795 million won on the 9th and 800 million won on the 11th this month, setting new highs every few days in recent weeks.
The figure represents an increase of about 170 million won over one year, compared with the upper range of transactions for the same floor plan, which stood at around 680 million won in June last year. As recently as early this year, units changed hands in the low 700 million won range, but they crossed the 800 million won line last month and set another record high this month.
The epicenter of Byeongjeom's price surge is Dongtan. An 84.7-square-meter unit at Dongtan Station Lotte Castle in Yeoul-dong, a flagship complex near Dongtan Station, traded at 2.225 billion won on the 4th of last month, setting a new record high. Although the complex has 940 households, only three units recently came onto the market for sale, as inventory has all but vanished, and asking prices for the remaining units are set 300 million to 400 million won higher than actual transaction prices.
The result is a short-term price surge centered on complexes near Dongtan Station, driven by expectations for the opening of the GTX-A line and a projected recovery in the semiconductor industry. As the price gap with Dongtan widened, more buyers turned their attention to the Byeongjeom Station living area. After the government announced on the 30th of last month that it would designate Dongtan district as a speculative overheated zone and an area subject to adjustment, Byeongjeom's price competitiveness came into sharper focus.
Buying interest is spreading beyond Byeongjeom to Osan. The increases are particularly pronounced in the so-called North Osan area, including Oesammi-dong and Naesammi-dong, which border the Dongtan new town.
According to Real Estate R114, apartment prices in Osan rose 0.37% during the week immediately after Dongtan's regulatory designation. Over the same period, Oesammi-dong rose 2.93% and Naesammi-dong 1.31%, far exceeding the Osan average.
Record-high transactions followed in Osan as well. An 84-square-meter unit at The Sharp Osan Central in Sucheong-dong traded at 710 million won on the 7th, setting a new record high for the complex. As demand concentrated on the relatively new complexes in North Osan near Dongtan, transaction prices for 84-square-meter units in the Osan area settled in the 700 million won range.
Preferred complexes within Osan's Segyo new town are also showing signs of price recovery. A 75-square-meter unit at Segyo Xi near Osan University Station traded between 490 million and 498 million won in May, but rose to 510 million won last month and this month, with a 15th-floor unit selling at the same price on the 7th. A pattern in which relatively new complexes in North Osan and popular complexes in Segyo new town rise first, followed by lower-priced complexes, is continuing across Osan.
