By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
A spacious 2,100 square feet per unit apartment ― fully automated and loaded with wall-to-wall luxury features ― tucked away in an exclusive gated community, surrounded by a huge, resident-only access park. This is just a quick overview of a supreme four-bedroom apartment sold recently for a grand total of 5.7 billion won ($5.5 million), a transaction industry experts call ``a miracle.''
That's because this Samsung-dong sale, which was reportedly sealed in April, came at a time when home prices in the southern Seoul district slipped into a tumbling phase. The downward trend ― both in value and the number of transactions ― continued for three months straight until June, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.
Apartment prices in the affluent areas south of the Han River shed an average 0.7 percent in the first half of this year, and analysts predict a further gloomy outlook, citing the slow economy and tight property regulations.
``The lucky seller had been actively seeking a buyer for more than two months,'' said Kim Hee-jung, a real estate broker familiar with the purchase, adding that all of the property agents in the area were competing to seal the mega transaction.
Kim Hyong-oh, another broker, calls the deal a miracle not only because the market is so sluggish, but also because this largest-ever apartment transaction was completed without any discount.
``Fifty-seven billion won was what he asked for and that's what he got,'' he said, without further elaborating on the seller and buyer's information.
According to ministry data released Thursday, the high-rise unit in the Samsung-dong I-Park complex is the most expensive apartment sold since 2006 when the government first required all apartment transactions to be reported.
Among others on the price list were two Tower Palace units (4.5 billion won and 4.8 billion won) in Dogok-dong, another affluent area in southern Seoul, and two Hyundai Apartment units (3.6 billion won and 3.5 billion won) in Apkujeong-dong, one of the traditional dwellings of the rich.
Do Mi-na, a property agent, says luxury homes tagged ``urgent'' have been spotted more often in the market these days, but I-Park ― widely considered to have beaten Tower Palace in terms of posh reputation ― is still uniquely holding up its status.
``Sellers have too much pride to mark their homes with a quick sale tag,'' she said, adding that the rush is unnecessary since the wealthy rarely need urgent cash.