Land prices rose an average of 1.22% nationwide in the first half of this year, tracking a 0.33% rise in housing prices over the same period.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Real Estate Board announced Thursday that their tally of land price change rates for the first half of 2026 showed a 1.22% increase nationwide. The figure is up 0.03 percentage points from the 1.19% recorded in the second half of last year and 0.17 percentage points higher than the 1.05% posted in the first half of last year.
By region, the Greater Seoul metropolitan area rose 1.69%, with Seoul posting a 2.32% gain. Within Seoul, Gangnam-gu led with a 2.99% increase, followed by Yongsan-gu at 2.88% and Seongdong-gu at 2.69%. Prices in non-metropolitan regions rose 0.38%.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said land prices nationwide have been on an upward trend since March 2023, with monthly gains moderating to around 0.2% since April.
Transaction volume in the first half reached 945,000 lots covering 574.2 square kilometers, up 4.2% (38,000 lots) from the first half of last year and 2.2% (21,000 lots) from the second half of last year.
Transactions in pure land — excluding plots attached to buildings — totaled 298,000 lots (520.7 square kilometers), down 3.3% (10,000 lots) from the first half of last year but up 1.5% (4,000 lots) from the second half of last year.
Among regions, Sejong recorded the sharpest increase in transaction volume, rising 42.2% from the second half of last year.
Meanwhile, the Korea Real Estate Board's tally of housing sale prices showed a nationwide increase of 0.33% in the first half. Seoul rose 4.52%, and when limited to apartments, the capital surged 5.07%.
smh@heraldcorp.com
