Woori Bank Real Estate Research Lab analysis

Samsung Electronics to offer 1.5% annual rate loans of up to 500 million won from September

Dongtan district home prices up 16.32% this year

Dongtan 2 new town [Real Estate 360][Herald DB]
Dongtan 2 new town [Real Estate 360][Herald DB]

About 65 percent of apartment transactions in Hwaseong's Dongtan district over the past three months were recorded at all-time high prices, according to new data. With Samsung Electronics set to offer eligible employees low-interest home loans of up to 500 million won ($362,000) starting next month, attention is turning to whether prices across the broader "semiconductor belt" — including Dongtan — have further room to run.

Of the 494 apartment unit types traded in the district from June through Tuesday, 319 — or 64.57 percent — hit record-high sale prices, according to data released Wednesday by Ham Young-jin, head of Woori Bank's Real Estate Research Lab, who analyzed actual transaction records for Hwaseong's Dongtan district. The gains spread across a wide range of complexes and unit sizes, not just ultra-luxury developments, giving Dongtan the highest such share of any district in Gyeonggi Province.

The sharpest price jump was recorded at a 97-square-meter unit at Dongtan Station Sibeom The Sharp Central City in Cheonggye-dong, which sold July 4 for 2.16 billion won — 500 million won above its previous record of 1.66 billion won set in March. Other units also set new highs: a 128-square-meter unit at Dongtan Station Sibeom Hanwha Kkume Geurin Prestige sold for 2.4 billion won; an 84-square-meter unit at Sibeom Bando Ubora Ivy Park 4.0 fetched 1.59 billion won; and a 97-square-meter unit at Dongtan Station Herriot sold for 1.4 billion won.

Hwaseong's Dongtan district is widely regarded as a prime live-work location, given its proximity to Samsung Electronics' Hwaseong and Giheung campuses as well as related chipmakers. The area also benefits from strong transport links, with both the GTX-A express rail line and the SRT high-speed train running through it.

According to the Korea Real Estate Board, as of Monday, apartment sale prices in Hwaseong's Dongtan district have risen a cumulative 16.32 percent this year, while jeonse prices have climbed 10.87 percent over the same period.

Amid this backdrop, Samsung Electronics will introduce an in-house loan program for employees without homes starting Sept. 1, offering an annual interest rate of 1.5 percent and a maximum of 500 million won. In the Greater Seoul area, the program is understood to apply to units with an exclusive use area of 85 square meters or less and a sale price of no more than 2.5 billion won.

Experts say the rollout of such a welfare benefit will draw even more attention to the semiconductor belt's favorable conditions. Ham said that while "it will be difficult for buying momentum to expand without limit given the government's current loan and real estate regulation environment," the program "will serve as a significant psychological and practical boost for the Dongtan market." He added that demand for complexes near shuttle bus stops — a category known locally as "shuttle-zone" housing — is also likely to grow.

Short-term fatigue from rapid price gains, government lending restrictions and the designation of certain areas as land transaction permit zones could all temper the pace of increases, but analysts expect prices to remain firmly supported on the downside. "With record-high prices already accounting for more than 60 percent of transactions by unit type, adding demand from Samsung Electronics employees would make prices quite resistant to any downward pressure," Ham said. He added that rather than a broad-based surge, record prices are most likely to continue at complexes with strong live-work proximity and superior product quality.


shy@heraldcorp.com
hss@heraldcorp.com