Apartment prices in Seoul's Mapo District are closing in on those in the Gangnam area. Occupancy rights for an 84-square-meter unit in a newly built complex changed hands at nearly 3.18 billion won ($2.3 million), bringing the price into the same range as comparably sized units in Gangnam's aging and redevelopment-bound complexes. While Gangnam apartments have undergone a sharp price correction since the government announced its tax overhaul, demand has risen for homes in the Han River belt — including Mapo and Seongdong districts — where the added burden from property holding taxes and capital gains taxes is relatively light. Analysts say the gap could narrow further.
Occupancy rights for an 84-square-meter unit at Mapo Xi Hillstate Lachelles in Gongdeok sold for 3.18 billion won on Sept. 11, a record high, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price disclosure system on the 6th. The same unit size traded at 3.06 billion won in February, the first time a so-called national standard-size unit in Mapo topped 3 billion won, and the record was broken again seven months later. The presale price for 84-square-meter units at the complex, which took applications in 2024, was in the 1.6 billion to 1.7 billion won range, meaning prices have nearly doubled in two years. An official at a nearby brokerage said, "With occupancy rights trading as high as 3.18 billion won, asking prices have now risen to between 3.1 billion and 3.3 billion won," adding, "At this point it looks difficult for anything other than lower-floor units to trade below 3 billion won."
Mapo apartment sale prices rose 0.08% in the fourth week of September, widening from 0.06% the previous week, for a cumulative gain of 8.37% this year, according to the Korea Real Estate Board. Gangnam District, by contrast, fell 0.56% over the same period, a steeper drop than the previous week's 0.42% decline, and is down 0.26% for the year. Seocho and Songpa districts rose 1.36% and 5.13% respectively this year, weaker gains than Mapo's.
Record prices are being set in existing apartments as well as occupancy rights. A 73-square-meter unit at Seogang Obelisk Suite in Changjeon-dong sold for 1.52 billion won on Sept. 29, a record high. A 191-square-meter unit at Lotte Castle President in Gongdeok-dong also set a record at 3 billion won on Sept. 15.
With occupancy rights for new Mapo apartments approaching 3.2 billion won, the prices are now seen as comparable to Gangnam redevelopment complexes in the 3 billion won range. Direct comparison is difficult given additional assessment payments owed by reconstruction association members, relocation requirements and the time until move-in, but for owner-occupier buyers the price range has entered territory where the two can be weighed as alternatives.
An 83-square-meter unit at Gaepo Jugong 6 in Gangnam's Gaepo-dong, where rebuilding is under way, sold for 3.25 billion won on Sept. 21, and the same size at Gaepo Jugong 7 traded at 3.4 billion won on Sept. 26. A 76-square-meter unit at Eunma Apartments in Daechi-dong sold for 3.13 billion won on Sept. 29, and an 83-square-meter unit at nearby Ssangyong Daechi changed hands for 3.6 billion won the same month.
The price gap is also narrow with older apartments in Seocho and Songpa districts. An 84-square-meter unit at Dogok Rexle in Gangnam's Dogok-dong, completed in 2006, recorded an actual transaction price of 3.57 billion won that month. An 84-square-meter unit at Jamsil Elles in Songpa's Jamsil-dong, completed in 2008, sold for 3.325 billion won on Sept. 12 and 3.29 billion won on the 5th of this month. An 84-square-meter unit at Seocho Raemian in Seocho-dong, completed in 2003 and now pursuing remodeling, changed hands for 2.835 billion won on Sept. 18.
The gap remains wide, but weakness at the top end has somewhat narrowed the difference between the fourth and fifth price quintiles. Fifth-quintile apartment prices — the average for the top 20% — moved sideways or rose gradually in the 3.44 billion to 3.47 billion won range this year, while fourth-quintile prices, covering the top 20% to 40%, climbed 8.8% from 1.71911 billion won at the start of the year to 1.86998 billion won in September, according to KB Real Estate. That means gains were relatively steeper just below the very top of the market.
Analysts attribute Mapo apartment prices nearing 3.2 billion won to a new-build premium, locational competitiveness and the tax overhaul. Yoon Soo-min, senior real estate specialist at NH NongHyup Bank, said, "The scarcity value of a new build is working strongly together with locational competitiveness, and on top of that the effects of the tax overhaul appear to have been limited."
Others say it is still hard to conclude that Mapo and Gangnam price ranges have genuinely converged. Ham Young-jin, head of the real estate research lab at Woori Bank, said, "The Gongdeok area has many aging apartments, most of them more than 20 years old, so a new build arriving after a long gap commands a premium." Ham added, "There are still differences from Gangnam in location and preference, and compared with the roughly 3.9 billion won paid for an 84-square-meter unit at DH Bangbae in Seocho's Bangbae-dong, which has a similar move-in timeline, a price gap remains." Yoon said, "Simple price comparisons with Gangnam redevelopment complexes are difficult, but once you factor in reconstruction costs such as additional assessment payments and the uncertainties involved, Mapo and Yongsan have risen to a price range where they can serve as alternatives to Gangnam."
