Seoul property prices both up and down, depending on source

View of apartments in Gangnam, southern Seoul [NEWS1]

Property prices in Seoul are rising, or falling, depending on which institution you choose to believe.

Prices fell 0.03 percent in the last week of February on week, according to the Korea Real Estate Board. Property prices, it says, have been dropping six weeks straight.

The private sector begs to differ.

Prices were up 0.01 percent over the same period, according to KB Kookmin Bank's KB Real Estate. Real Estate R114 found that prices rose 0.02 percent.

The two private groups have not recorded a single down week so far this week.

According to KB Real Estate, prices were up this year from the fourth week of January through the last week of February by 0.2 percent, while Real Estate 114 puts the rise at 0.18 percent.

Lim Byung-chul, a spokesperson for Real Estate R114, said apartment prices in Seoul have been steady this year, not down, despite the strengthened government loan regulations, the rise of interest rates, Seoul city government's scrapping of the 35-story height limit for residential buildings and campaign promises by presidential candidates to increase the floor area of residential areas.

Different groups use different calculation methods to arrive at their numbers.

Data from the Korea Real Estate Board is based a survey of 32,000 households, while KB Real Estate samples 36,000 households. When calculating the index, the Korea Real Estate Board relies on the geometric mean method, while KB Real Estate uses the arithmetic mean method.

The geometric mean method accounts for compounding between periods.

"It's not desirable to study short-term fluctuations of the real estate market, like stocks or financial assets, and reflect those results in policy," said Lee Sang-young, a professor who teaches real estate at Myongji University. Lee added that people should note that sample survey results can vary depending who is actually surveyed in the study.

BY KIM WON [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]