52-pyeong unit sells for 10.55 billion won, near all-time high; record prices logged across Banpo as listings dry up
Apartment prices in Gangnam appear to be rebounding after a brief lull that followed a series of stern warnings from President Lee Jae-myung targeting multi-home owners and high-end properties at the start of the year. At Raemian One Bailey — widely regarded as the flagship complex in Banpo — actual transaction prices have again crossed the 10 billion won mark, while neighboring complexes are also logging record highs.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price disclosure system, a 133.95-square-meter unit (exclusive use area; 52 pyeong, or about 442 square meters) at Raemian One Bailey in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul changed hands on May 23 for 10.55 billion won (about $7.6 million). The same unit type had set an all-time high of 10.6 billion won in December 2024, meaning prices have now nearly recovered to that peak.
The deal marks the first transaction this year at Raemian One Bailey to exceed 200 million won per 3.3 square meters (1 pyeong) and the first to surpass the 10 billion won threshold. Two other deals above 10 billion won have been recorded in Banpo so far this year — one at Raemian One Pentas in March (10 billion won) and another at Raemian One Bailey.
Record prices are also emerging at nearby complexes. A 155-square-meter unit at Raemian One Pentas sold for 8.55 billion won on May 15, setting a new all-time high, while a 107-square-meter unit at Sinbanpo 19-cha in Jamwon-dong fetched a record 4.05 billion won on May 8. Acro River Park — long considered the original flagship of Banpo — saw its 84-square-meter unit sell for a record 6.3 billion won on May 19, approaching 200 million won per pyeong.
Apartment prices in Banpo-dong, which set the tone for Seocho-gu's market, had been falling between February and April as sellers listed properties ahead of a tightening of the capital gains tax surcharge on multi-home owners. Since last month, however, listings have dried up and prices have turned higher again. At his first-anniversary press conference on June 8, President Lee said prices "would have surged enormously" had the government not intervened verbally from January onward — yet the high-end segment his administration has directly targeted is now showing a clear recovery.
The trend is visible in weekly price indices as well. Seocho-gu apartment prices had risen as high as 0.05 percent in the third week of February before President Lee's remarks on X (formerly Twitter) and at Cabinet meetings — aimed at multi-home and high-end property owners — pushed them into negative territory in the fourth week of February, at minus 0.02 percent. Prices then fell for nine consecutive weeks through the third week of April, bottoming at minus 0.03 percent. They turned positive again in the final week of April, rising 0.01 percent, and have since climbed for six straight weeks, reaching 0.21 percent in the first week of June.
"Once the capital gains tax surcharge took effect, the number of listings shrank, so supply fell while demand stayed the same — prices had no choice but to rise," said Ko Jun-seok, a professor at Yonsei University's Sangnam School of Management. "Cash-rich buyers still want new-build complexes in Banpo, and that sustained demand is driving the record transactions."
With President Lee reaffirming at his anniversary press conference that he intends to expand the tax burden on high-end and multi-home properties, the tax reform package expected in July could become a key variable for the Gangnam real estate market. Some analysts caution, however, that higher holding taxes or capital gains taxes on expensive properties could simply be passed on to tenants and buyers, keeping sale prices in a mildly firm range rather than pushing them down.
"If the tax burden grows, there is a good chance it gets passed on," Ko said. "Multi-home owners may raise rents to offset the taxes, and higher jeonse and monthly rent prices tend to feed through into higher home prices — so the Gangnam housing market will likely stay in a mildly firm range for now."
hwshin@heraldcorp.com
