Sale price index falls 0.03% after July gain
Yeonsu-gu, Geomdan-gu, Yeongjong-gu buck the trend
Jeonse up 0.41%, monthly rent up 0.38%
Incheon's housing sale prices reversed course and fell last month after a brief uptick in July, data released Monday showed.
The decline in the sales market stood in contrast to the rental sector, where both jeonse and monthly rent continued to rise, widening the gap between the two markets.
According to an August Incheon real estate market report released Monday by the Incheon Metropolitan Government, based on Korea Real Estate Board data, the city's housing sale price index fell 0.03% in August.
The reversal came just a month after sale prices posted a 0.02% gain in July.
Results varied sharply by district. Yeonsu-gu led all areas with a 0.15% gain, followed by Geomdan-gu at 0.10%, Yeongjong-gu at 0.06% and Jeomulpo-gu at 0.02%.
Michuhol-gu recorded the steepest decline at 0.18%, with Namdong-gu down 0.13%, Seohaegu down 0.09%, Bupyeong-gu down 0.02% and Gyeyang-gu down 0.01%.
The divergence was particularly pronounced between new towns and newly developed areas, where prices held firm, and established residential neighborhoods, where declines were more visible.
Unlike the sales market, the rental sector maintained its upward momentum.
The jeonse price index rose 0.41% in August, up 0.14 percentage points from the 0.27% gain recorded in July.
By district, Seohaegu posted the largest jeonse increase at 0.67%, followed by Yeonsu-gu at 0.66%, Yeongjong-gu at 0.61%, Gyeyang-gu at 0.51%, Bupyeong-gu at 0.50%, Namdong-gu at 0.31%, Jeomulpo-gu at 0.22%, Geomdan-gu at 0.16% and Michuhol-gu at 0.11%.
Monthly rent also continued to climb. The integrated monthly rent price index rose 0.38% in August, a slight increase from 0.37% the previous month.
Bupyeong-gu led monthly rent gains at 0.65%, followed by Geomdan-gu at 0.49%, Jeomulpo-gu at 0.47%, Seohaegu at 0.40%, Yeonsu-gu at 0.38%, Yeongjong-gu at 0.33%, Namdong-gu at 0.28%, Gyeyang-gu at 0.24% and Michuhol-gu at 0.21%. Monthly rents rose across all districts in the city.
A drop in transaction volume also pointed to a cooling sales market. Housing sales transactions in Incheon in July fell to 3,706, down 361, or 8.9%, from 4,067 the previous month.
Yeonsu-gu recorded the highest transaction count at 605, followed by Bupyeong-gu with 600, Namdong-gu with 521, Seohaegu with 469, Michuhol-gu with 423, Geomdan-gu with 387 and Gyeyang-gu with 374.
Yeongjong-gu logged 122 transactions, Jeomulpo-gu 116, Ganghwa-gun 84 and Ongjin-gun 5.
Jeonse and monthly rent transactions also edged lower. The combined volume of jeonse and monthly rent deals in July came to 12,150, down 2.3% from 12,439 the previous month.
Analysts noted that while transaction volumes fell, rental prices continued to rise — a combination that could increase the housing cost burden on end-users.
Incheon's housing market in August thus showed a simultaneous slowdown in sale price growth and an acceleration in rental costs.
As a wait-and-see mood strengthened in the sales market, demand shifted toward jeonse and monthly rent rather than outright purchases, sustaining upward price pressure in the rental sector.
Not all districts saw sale prices fall, however. Yeonsu-gu, Geomdan-gu and Yeongjong-gu maintained gains, suggesting that local housing market trends will continue to diverge depending on factors such as new development activity and the expansion of transportation and lifestyle infrastructure.
gilbert@heraldcorp.com
