Apartments in top school districts cost up to W400m more than nearby areas

Apartments in neighborhoods known for strong school districts are trading at prices hundreds of millions of won above surrounding market rates, according to a new analysis. The trend is driven largely by parents in their 30s and 40s, whose demand to buy has grown as the supply of jeonse listings has tightened.

Data released Wednesday by Real Estate R114 show that the average sale price per 3.3 square meters in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu — one of Seoul's premier school districts — stood at 105.3 million won ($79,300), compared with the Gangnam-gu average of 98.5 million won, a gap of 6.8 million won per 3.3 square meters. For a standard 84-square-meter unit (exclusive use area), that translates to a premium of about 231.2 million won.

Mokdong in Yangcheon-gu showed a similar pattern, averaging 66.3 million won per 3.3 square meters against the Yangcheon-gu average of 55.07 million won — a difference of 11.23 million won. On an 84-square-meter basis, the gap reaches about 381.82 million won.

The premium extends beyond Seoul. In Pyeongchon-dong, Anyang — widely regarded as one of Gyeonggi Province's top hagwon corridors — the average sale price was 36.41 million won per 3.3 square meters, versus the Anyang city average of 28.85 million won, a spread of 7.56 million won. For an 84-square-meter unit, the difference amounts to about 257.04 million won.

In Hwaseong, a gap also emerged between Bansong-dong, home to the Dongtan 1 new town's hagwon district, and the city as a whole. Bansong-dong averaged 23.35 million won per 3.3 square meters, or 3.32 million won above the Hwaseong city average.

The school-district premium was most pronounced in Beomeo-dong, Suseong-gu, Daegu. The average sale price there reached 30.79 million won per 3.3 square meters, a full 18.94 million won above the Daegu city average of 11.85 million won. For an 84-square-meter unit, apartments in the area cost 643.96 million won more than the city average.

A 2023 research note from the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements found that families with children in their 30s and 40s ranked educational conditions as the single most important factor when choosing a home. The effect is particularly strong outside Seoul, where quality school districts are scarcer, making the price gap between those neighborhoods and the broader market even more pronounced.

"Education is one of the most critical location factors for the parent generation, which makes up the core of housing demand," an industry official said. "With private tutoring culture so intense that driving children to hagwon has become routine, proximity to a large hagwon cluster is a major driver of home prices."