Housing transactions surpasses W360tr in value

Total sales transactions in South Korea’s housing market last year crossed the 300 trillion-won mark for the first time over abundant liquidity and low interest rates, according to a report released by property platform operator Zigbang on Monday.

The report, based on the data of real transaction prices of houses last year, showed the sales volume reached an all-time high of 360.8 trillion won ($328.6 billion) in value, up from 246.2 trillion won in 2019. The previous record was 262.8 trillion won set in 2015.

Breaking down the figure, 282.2 trillion won worth of high-rise apartments were traded last year, while the rest, such as multi-family houses and multiplex housing units, accounted for a combined 78.6 trillion won.

In the greater Seoul area, housing transactions surpassed the 200 trillion-won mark for the first time, coming in at 227.8 trillion won. A total of 176.1 trillion-won worth of apartments were traded, while people bought and sold a combined 51.6 trillion won of multi-family houses and multiplex housing units.

In other regions, total home sales stood at 133.1 trillion won in value, exceeding 100 trillion won for the first time. Apartment sales accounted for most of the transactions, with property transactions coming in at 106.2 trillion won.

“The property market boomed last year thanks to lowered interest rates, as part of the government’s measures for economic recovery,” said Ham Young-jin, chief of big data research lab under Zigbang.

“The high level of liquidity flowed into the real estate market, and property transactions took pace in less regulated areas.”

The average apartment price per square meter came in at 40.32 million won in December last year, up 20 percent from the previous year, according to separate data released by KB Kookmin Bank, a commercial bank that runs a real estate data platform.

The average sales price of an apartment in December stood at 1.42 billion won in Seoul, up from 859.5 million won a year earlier.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)