Land Prices Fall For 1st Time in Decade
By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
Land prices in South Korea fell for the first time in 10 years, according to government figures Thursday, in a further sign that the country's economic slump is lengthening.
The estimated individual land prices of over 30 million lots nationwide fell by an average of 0.8 percent this year. Seoul and the neighboring metropolitan cities saw bigger losses, while some provincial areas enjoyed a slight rise in value, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.
Land prices in Seoul and its vicinity were down by 1.3 percent and other metropolitan cities in provincial areas collectively saw a 0.3 percent decline. But smaller cities and counties in provincial areas saw their land prices improve by an average of 0.3 percent.
Before this year, Seoul's land prices had posted double-digit growth since 2004. Seoul and its neighboring areas accounted for nine of the 10 districts where the drop in land values was most severe.
The southern Seoul districts of Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu and Songpa-gu districts, traditionally favored in real estates businesses, all saw their prices drop by more than 3 percent.
However, the most depreciated area was Yeongi County in Southern Chungcheong Province, where landowners enjoyed a sharp rise over the last few years, amid the ongoing development of the Sejong Special Autonomous City, which was designated to replace Seoul as a future administrative capital. Its land prices fell by an average of 4 percent.
Gunsan City in North Jeolla Province enjoyed the biggest rise of 14.2 percent, as expectations abounded for an imminent launching of a huge development project in its reclaimed Saemangeum district.
Seven provinces and metropolitan cities saw their land assets gaining value this year.
A coffee shop located in central Seoul retained its perennial spot as the most expensive piece of land in the country. The land of Pascucci's Myeongdong store was estimated at 62.3 million won ($49,570) per square meter, down 2.7 percent from 64 million won last year.
In an interesting rebound, the overall land prices of Dokdo islet on the East Sea jumped 11.4 percent to 945.4 million won. A growing number of tourists to the area and the recent discovery of methane hydrate, an emerging new energy resource, on the nearby ocean floor raised the value of the islet, the ministry said.
A list of the officially estimated land prices will be available at official Web sites of the ministry, as well as those of municipal and provincial offices.