'Asking prices rising by millions of won'
Apartment sale prices in Gwangju, which had been falling throughout the year, have turned upward following news of the planned merger of South Jeolla Province and Gwangju and the announcement of semiconductor factory construction in the region.
According to the Korea Real Estate Board and local real estate industry sources, Gwangju apartment sale prices fell month-on-month by 0.06 percent in February, 0.14 percent in March, 0.28 percent in April, 0.61 percent in May and 0.36 percent in June.
Prices then reversed course, rising 0.07 percent in July before accelerating to a 0.23 percent gain in August.
Seo-gu and Gwangsan-gu posted particularly strong gains — Seo-gu rose 0.43 percent in July and 0.31 percent in August, while Gwangsan-gu climbed 0.19 percent and 0.42 percent over the same two months.
Analysts attributed the gains largely to plans by SK hynix and Samsung Electronics to build semiconductor factories at the Gwangju military airport site in Gwangsan-gu, as well as to the proposed administrative merger of Gwangju and South Jeolla Province.
Asking prices for Gwangju apartments have also been rising in tandem.
A real estate agent in the Sangmu district of Seo-gu told Yonhap that asking prices had been climbing by at least several million won since last month. "Not every listing ends in a contract, but the market is in better shape than it was in the first half of the year," the agent said.
Still, some experts caution that how long and how far the upswing will last remains to be seen, given rising lending rates at financial institutions and the region's persistent economic slowdown. They note that a recent apartment subscription for Champions City saw shortfalls across many unit types, and that Gwangju is unlikely to see a meaningful population influx until semiconductor factory construction actually breaks ground.
hss@heraldcorp.com
