▲ Property listings posted in front of a real estate agency in Seoul
Seoul apartment prices, which had declined in March this year in the wake of the government's announcement to end the temporary suspension of heavy capital gains taxes on multi-home owners, turned upward again after just one month.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government analyzed and released the April 2026 Seoul apartment actual transaction price index trends and apartment transaction statistics published by the Korea Real Estate Board.
The actual transaction price index for sales is calculated by analyzing all actual transaction data reported within 30 days of signing a sales contract in accordance with the Act on Report on Real Estate Transactions, etc., with November 2017 prices set as the baseline of 100.
In April, Seoul's apartment actual transaction price index for sales stood at 196.3, up 0.08% from 196.2 in the previous month.
Compared to 174.0 in the same month last year, it rose by 12.86%.
On February 12 this year, the government announced that it would resume heavy capital gains taxes on multi-home owners in May, marking the first time in four years. As a result, properties owned by multi-home owners flooded the market, causing prices to drop in March.
By region, the actual transaction price index for apartment sales rose in the northeastern, southwestern, and northwestern regions, while it declined in the downtown and southeastern regions.
The cumulative actual transaction price index for apartment sales from January to April rose by 3.2% across Seoul.
The northeastern region (4.6%), southwestern region (4.4%), and northwestern region (3.0%) saw significant increases.
The city analyzed, "This phenomenon occurred as actual demand was concentrated on low-to-mid-priced apartments, where the burden of raising funds is relatively low due to loan restrictions."
In April, the actual transaction price index for jeonse (lump-sum deposit lease) stood at 141.4, up 1.14% from a month earlier (139.8) and up 10.53% compared to the same month last year (127.9).
The index rose in all regions, and even when categorized by size, the index increased across all sizes except for ultra-small apartments (exclusive area of 40 square meters or less).
In May, the transaction volume of Seoul apartment sales was tallied at 7,282 cases, down 15.2% from the previous month.
During this period, the proportion of transactions for properties priced at 1.5 billion won or less was 76.4%, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous month (76%).
The city explained, "Due to the tightening of loan regulations following the October 15 measures, the proportion of transactions under 1.5 billion won had recently exceeded 80%. However, as transactions for high-priced homes increased ahead of the end of the suspension of heavy capital gains taxes on multi-home owners, the proportion of transactions under 1.5 billion won in April and May decreased compared to the beginning of the year."
By autonomous district (gu), Nowon-gu, Guro-gu, and Gangseo-gu recorded the highest transaction volumes, in that order.
In these areas, the proportion of transactions under 1.5 billion won exceeds 90%.
In May, the transaction volume of Seoul apartment jeonse contracts was 7,741 cases, down 12% from the previous month (8,797 cases), and the volume of monthly rent (wolse) contracts also decreased by 15.9% to 7,429 cases from the previous month (8,830 cases).
The city explained, "The volume of rental transactions (jeonse and monthly rent) typically repeats a seasonal trend of increasing from January to March every year, decreasing during the summer, and recovering at the end of the year. The decline in transaction volume in May appears to be influenced by seasonal factors."
In May, jeonse accounted for 51% of all rental transactions.
Since December last year, the proportion of monthly rent has continued to hover around 50%.
The share of jeonse sharply declined from 55.4% in November last year, right after the October 15 announcement, to 50% in December, and has remained at a similar level since.
Among jeonse transactions, the proportion of contract renewals in May was 53.6%, higher than the same month last year (43%), while the proportion of tenants exercising their contract renewal rights was 50.2%, lower than the same month last year (57.5%).
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.