Consumer sentiment in the housing market has grown even stronger, with more people expecting home prices and transaction volumes in the Greater Seoul area to rise. Jeonse sentiment, meanwhile, has fallen — a shift analysts say may reflect end-users moving toward outright purchases.
The Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements' July real estate consumer sentiment survey, released Tuesday, showed the nationwide housing market index — covering both sales and jeonse — rose 0.2 points from the previous month to 116.1. The index has remained in an upward phase for 10 consecutive months since it first crossed 110 last September.
The Greater Seoul area held steady at 123.4, unchanged from the prior month, while the non-metropolitan index climbed 0.3 points to 107.6. Strong buying sentiment also showed up in the home-purchase index, which rose 0.7 points to 119.5 nationally. In the Greater Seoul area, the index jumped 1.1 points to 128.5 — with Seoul alone hitting 139.9, its highest reading in a year. The non-metropolitan index edged up 0.2 points to 109.0.
The most notable shift was in jeonse market sentiment. The Greater Seoul index remained in an upward phase but slipped 1.1 points to 118.3, while Seoul's fell 2.0 points to 121.8. Seoul's jeonse index peaked at 124.2 in May and has now declined for two consecutive months, with the pace of decline accelerating last month. By contrast, the non-metropolitan index edged up 0.4 points to 106.2, remaining in a near-flat phase.
The simultaneous softening of jeonse sentiment and further strengthening of purchase sentiment has led analysts to suggest that end-users, worn down by prolonged jeonse price increases, are shifting toward the sales market.
The jeonse market has remained strong throughout this year. The KB real estate jeonse price index showed Seoul jeonse prices rising for 77 consecutive weeks as of Aug. 10, with particularly sharp gains of more than 5 percent in northern districts including Gangbuk, Seongbuk, Nowon and Dobong-gu. Analysts say renters without homes of their own, worn out by the long-running jeonse shortage and increasingly worried about a lack of new move-in supply, are actively moving to the purchase market.
"The jeonse consumer sentiment index had not exceeded 120 since 2021, but it has now stayed above that level for three consecutive months," said Kwon Geon-u, a researcher at the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements. "One interpretation is that buyers are finding it hard to secure the properties they want when they need them, which is keeping the index elevated."
smh@heraldcorp.com
