Buying sentiment, which had recovered on expectations of easing of real estate regulations, has stagnated again. The failure of the Presidential Takeover Committee to clearly present policy directions related to real estate regulation is interpreted to have had a negative impact on purchasing sentiment. There is also an analysis that the market’s wait-and-see attitude has grown due to the increase in interest rates.
According to a survey by the Korea Real Estate Agency on the 29th, this week (as of the 25th), the Seoul apartment sales and demand index was 90.5, down 0.9 points from the previous week (91.4). After rebounding from March 7, just before the presidential election, Seoul apartment buying sentiment rose for seven weeks in a row until last week, and then declined slightly in eight weeks.
The purchase/demand index refers to a number that indexes the proportion of supply and demand by analyzing the real estate agency’s survey of member brokerage firms and the number of items for sale on the Internet. A value closer to 0 means that supply is greater than demand, and a value closer to 200 means that demand is greater than supply. Generally, the higher the index above 100, the stronger the buying sentiment.
Looking at the supply and demand index by region in Seoul, the northwestern region (Eunpyeong, Seodaemun, Mapo-gu) recorded 87.0 this week, down 2.1 from the previous week (89.1). This is the biggest decline among the five major areas in Seoul. The northeast region (Nowon, Dobong, and Gangbuk-gu) was 86.8, down 1.9 from the previous week (88.7). In downtown areas (Yongsan, Jongno-gu, etc.) where the presidential office is an issue, it fell 0.9 points from 91.3 to 90.4. The southeast area to which the 4 districts of Gangnam (Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa, and Gangdong-gu) belonged was 96.1, and the southwest area (Yangcheon-gu, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Guro-gu) was 91.5, no significant change from last week.
Confidence to buy apartments in provincial provinces also fell to 95.7 from last week (96.2). The nationwide apartment sales and demand index fell 0.8 points from 94.4 to 93.6.
Reporter Jeong Cho-won ccw@hankyung.com
