Gangseo District Tops Seoul Apartment Record-High Sales With 232 Deals
From August to October this year, Gangseo District recorded the highest number of record-high apartment transactions in Seoul—sales made at prices exceeding those of the past three years—with 232 deals. Nowon and Seongbuk districts followed with 198 each. These areas have shown a clear upward trend compared to early this year. According to KB Real Estate's October monthly apartment sales price index, prices rose 17.5% in Seongbuk, 16.5% in Gangseo, and 14.3% in Nowon compared to January. The increase in record-high transactions appears to reflect rising prices in outlying areas with relatively accessible price points.
Nowon District recorded 1,113 transactions during the period, the most among Seoul's 25 autonomous districts. Though down roughly 32% from the same period last year (1,640 deals), that still represents substantial activity given the overall downturn in transactions. Record-high deals were especially prevalent among smaller units: transactions for units of 40–60 square meters (exclusive floor area) reached 99, surpassing those of 60–85 square meters (71). Units of 40 square meters or less accounted for 10 deals, and those over 85 square meters, 18. Nowon and Geumcheon were the only districts in Seoul where record-high transactions were more common for units of 60 square meters or less. However, record-high deals made up just 17.8% of all contracts in Nowon, near the bottom of the rankings. The large volume of overall transactions meant that despite 198 record-high deals, their share remained low.
In Dongjak District, 139 of 270 total transactions—or 51.5%—were record-high deals. Seodaemun (45.2%), Gwangjin (45.0%), Yeongdeungpo and Mapo (43.6% each), Seongbuk (43.3%), and Yangcheon (42.6%) also exceeded 40%. Still, a high share alone cannot be interpreted as a seller's market or strong upward momentum. With so few transactions taking place, even a handful of record-high deals can push the share higher. In fact, Dongjak's transaction volume plummeted about 76%, from 1,140 deals in the same period last year to 270 this year.
Of the 9,633 apartment sales transactions in Seoul from August to October, 2,856—or 29.6%—were record-high deals. By size, units of 60–85 square meters accounted for 1,291 deals (45.2%) and 40–60 square meters for 1,041 (36.5%), together representing more than 80% of the total.
