Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix workers, newlyweds and out-of-town investors drive demand; experts warn of possible bubble
The moment Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix announced their bonuses, employees who had been eyeing homes in Dongtan came in to sign contracts. Workers in their 40s with children are buying near the station, while newlyweds are snapping up units near Dongtan Lake Park. For those who sold their Dongtan homes at peak prices, it's a chance to trade up.
Real estate agents near Dongtan say demand is pouring in from all directions — not just employees of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, but also civil servants and gap investors — as apartment prices in Dongtan-gu, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, have posted record weekly gains for three consecutive weeks, buoyed by the semiconductor industry boom.
An analysis of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport transaction data by real estate platform Zigbang found that 1,279 sale contracts were signed in Dongtan-gu in May alone. That figure is expected to rise, as transactions can be registered up to 30 days after a contract is signed.
The May tally is more than double the 503 transactions recorded in the same period a year earlier, and roughly 200 more than the 1,043 deals logged in October, when Seoul and 12 Gyeonggi Province areas were designated as land transaction permit zones and regulated areas. A cumulative 4,940 homes have changed hands in Dongtan so far this year. As of the third week of June, Dongtan-gu posted a weekly price gain of 2.22% — the fifth highest ever recorded across Seoul and Gyeonggi Province combined. The district had already set a record the previous week with a 1.98% rise.
Semiconductor industry workers at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are among the key drivers of the surge, snapping up apartments in the transit-oriented area around Dongtan Station. The head of one local real estate agency said employees in their 40s who had previously only browsed listings rushed in to buy the moment their companies announced bonus figures — even before the money arrived. "Some customers sold shares to raise a lump sum and are planning to take out multiple loans, including a mortgage, with the intention of refinancing later through an employee loan," the agent said.
The price rally is not confined to the area around Dongtan Station, which is served by the Greater Seoul Express Railway. Apartments near Dongtan Lake Park, about a 15-minute drive from the station, still have listings available for under 1 billion won (about $656,000), drawing young newlywed couples, according to local agents.
Buyers are also arriving from across the country — including Guri and Uiwang in Gyeonggi Province and Sejong — for both investment and owner-occupancy. One agent said a client who had been renting out a home in Sejong decided to sell it outright and relocate to Dongtan. "People living in Guri and Uiwang are also buying with tenants in place," the agent added.
With demand surging, actual transaction prices in Dongtan are rising in real time. At Dongtan Station Lotte Castle, a prime transit-oriented complex, an 84-square-meter unit sold for 2.225 billion won on June 4. Shortly after, a 65-square-meter unit — equivalent to about 27 pyeong (1 pyeong equals 3.3 square meters) — changed hands for 2 billion won on June 6, implying a per-pyeong price of 74 million won, approaching 100 million won per pyeong.
The 84-square-meter unit at Hosu Park Station Central City, the top-tier complex near the lake park, had been trading in the 800 million won range earlier this year but recently sold for 1.145 billion won, nearly recovering its all-time high of 1.19 billion won set in September 2021.
Available listings are also disappearing. Dongtan Station Lotte Castle in Yeoul-dong, the area's flagship complex, currently has only eight units listed for sale out of 940 total. At Dongtan Supsokmaul Nature & Daesian, a large complex of more than 1,200 units about a 10-minute drive from Dongtan Station, listings fell more than 33 percent in a single week, dropping from 30 to 20.
For existing homeowners who sold at peak prices, the rally has created an opportunity to trade up. "Most people who sold in Dongtan are moving to Bundang," one agent said. "Many of them have middle or high school-age children and are heading to areas known for good schools."
Some experts warn that the price surge could be inflating a bubble. Park Won-gap, a senior real estate specialist at KB Kookmin Bank, said expectations are outpacing fundamentals. "People are buying based on projections of where Dongtan prices will go, but with prices already rivaling those in Wangsimni, there may be some bubble built in," he said.
hss@heraldcorp.com
