Record highs near Saejeol Station even as western Seoul rail line stalls
Hillstate Baengnyeonsan 4's 84-square-meter unit hits 1.2 billion won — up 200 million won in 8 months
Cheongna still up to 195 million won below peak while awaiting Line 7
Experts: regional market trends matter more than rail delays
![Hillstate Baengnyeonsan 4 in Eungam-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. [Naver Street View]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/11/06/news-p.v1.20261106.dfb67a6a30d84d4b8bbb31d292f5221d_P1.png)
Apartment prices near two long-delayed rail projects — Seoul's western light rail line and the Incheon Line 7 Cheongna extension — are telling starkly different stories. Near Saejeol Station, the planned starting point of the western line, record-high transactions keep emerging, while prices in Incheon's Cheongna International City have yet to recover their 2021 peaks.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price disclosure system, an 84-square-meter unit on the 14th floor of Hillstate Baengnyeonsan 4 in Eungam-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul sold for 1.2 billion won ($894,000) in mid-September, surpassing the previous record high of 1.195 billion won set in June 2021. It was the first time a unit in the complex traded above 1.2 billion won. Compared with a same-sized unit on the 18th floor that sold for 1 billion won in January, the price climbed 200 million won in roughly eight months.
The complex sits near Saejeol Station on Seoul Metro Line 6. Saejeol Station is the planned starting point of the western light rail line, an urban rail project that would link six autonomous districts from Eunpyeong-gu to Gwanak-gu. The project has been in development for nearly 20 years but has yet to break ground.
As the project's financial viability deteriorated, the Seoul Metropolitan Government this year suspended negotiations with the existing preferred bidder and is reviewing options including a new private-investment tender and a conversion to public funding. On Oct. 29, district councils from Eunpyeong, Seodaemun, Mapo, Yeongdeungpo, Dongjak and Gwanak held a joint policy forum calling for the switch to public funding and an early ground-breaking.
Despite the prolonged delay, record-high transactions continue to emerge near Saejeol Station. A 59-square-meter unit at Baengnyeonsan SK View I'Park in Eungam-dong, Eunpyeong-gu set a new record high when it sold for 1.11 billion won on Oct. 19, up 50 million won from the 1.06 billion won recorded for the same floor area in July. An 84-square-meter unit at e-Pyeonhansesang Baengnyeonsan also changed hands for 1.095 billion won on Sept. 21, compared with 899 million won for a same-floor unit in January.
Apartment prices across Eunpyeong-gu as a whole have also climbed sharply. According to the Korea Real Estate Board's weekly apartment price trend data, sale prices in the district rose 9.56 percent from the start of this year through Monday — far outpacing the 1.94 percent gain recorded over the same period last year.
In Incheon's Cheongna International City, by contrast, major apartment complexes have yet to reclaim their past highs. The extension of Seoul Metro Line 7 to Cheongna, long touted as a key transportation catalyst for the area, has seen its opening pushed back for several years running. The Cheongna extension, which would connect Seongnam Station — the current terminus — to Cheongna International City Station over about 10.7 kilometers, broke ground in 2022 but has been beset by problems including ground subsidence.
The originally planned opening dates of 2027 and 2029 for phases one and two have been pushed back to the second half of 2029 and the first half of 2033, respectively. On Tuesday, Incheon city said it was exploring ways to shorten the construction period to get the project back on track.
Against that backdrop, recent transactions in the Cheongna area have fallen well short of prices seen during the 2021 real estate boom. An 84-square-meter unit at Cheongna Jeil Punggyeongchae Edu & Park 2 in Cheongna-dong, Seohaegu, Incheon sold for 760 million won on Sunday, some 180 million won below the complex's record high of 940 million won set in August 2021. No unit of that floor area in the complex has traded above 800 million won since 2022.
At Cheongna Hanyang Sujain, a 102-square-meter unit in the same building and on the same floor that sold for 770 million won in 2021 changed hands for 590 million won in June. The most recent transaction, recorded Oct. 16, also came in at 590 million won — 180 million won below the peak. At Hoban Verdium (Block A20), an 84-square-meter unit sold for 625 million won on Oct. 9, some 195 million won below the August 2021 record high of 820 million won.
Experts say regional real estate market trends have a greater bearing on home prices than delays in rail openings. Real estate commentator Yoon Ji-hae said the Seoul market is currently seeing buying interest spread to outlying areas that had lagged in the previous upswing, pushing prices higher. "Eunpyeong-gu is one of those areas," Yoon said.
Yoon added that Seoul's existing transit network is already extensive enough that new rail lines carry less weight on home prices than they once did. "The western line is a factor that helps support prices, but the impact of its delayed opening on home values will be limited," Yoon said.
shy@heraldcorp.com
