Apartment prices fell 4.5% last year according to sales

Transaction prices of apartments in Seoul dropped 4.5 percent last year, the biggest decline since 1998 when Korea was left reeling by the Asian financial crisis, data showed yesterday.

The prices of apartments in Seoul plunged 14.6 percent in 1998 before bouncing back 12.5 percent a year later.

Seoul’s affluent southern districts of Seocho, Gangnam and Songpa saw prices of apartments drop 6.6 percent, 6.4 percent and 6.4 percent last year respectively, said Realtoday, a real estate information provider, citing data compiled by Korea’s top lender Kookmin Bank.

Yang Ji-young, a Realtoday official, said the prices of apartments are likely to further drop in the first half of this year due to the termination of tax cuts for those who buy homes. Yonhap