[비즈한국] According to KB Real Estate statistics as of November 24, 2025, apartment sales prices in Seoul's Songpa-gu rose by 22.6% compared to the end of the previous year, while Seongdong-gu saw a 22.34% increase. Compared to the overall growth rate in Seoul during the same period, these figures are more than double-digit percentage points higher. These growth rates are even higher than those of traditional high-priced areas such as Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu, and Gwacheon.
It is difficult to dismiss this phenomenon, which has continued for two consecutive years, as a mere regional boom or a temporary overheating. The price surges in Songpa and Seongdong are a signal reflecting structural changes in Seoul's residential landscape and serve as a barometer for the future direction of the metropolitan real estate market. Failure to correctly interpret this phenomenon will lead to both policy and individual housing strategies losing their way.
Not a 'coincidental surge' but the result of 'focused choices'
The volume of apartment transactions in Seoul still has not reached the levels of past boom periods. It is also too early to conclude that interest rate cuts have taken full effect. Nevertheless, the fact that only two specific districts recorded a price increase rate exceeding 20% suggests that market participants, after examining all of Seoul, chose Songpa and Seongdong as the "most certain choice at this point in time."
While prices are statistics, what drives those statistics are the specific decision-making processes of households, businesses, and investors. When their choices generally point in the same direction, we call it a "structural change" rather than a "trend." The phenomenon currently appearing in Songpa and Seongdong is closer to the former.
Supply cliff and the evolution of the 'smart single property'
The background to this rise is, first and foremost, a supply shortage across Seoul. Since 2020, due to various regulations, delays in permits and approvals, and skyrocketing construction costs, the volume of new housing supply and construction starts in Seoul has shrunk significantly. Statistics already prove that occupancy supply has been decreasing since 2024.
In a phase of supply shortage, the typical market reaction is a preference for "one sure property" over "several ambiguous ones." In other words, demand is flocking to areas with large complexes, proximity to subway stations, excellent school districts, and verified living infrastructure. Until now, the representatives of such "smart properties" were Gangnam and Seocho. However, as price levels and regulatory intensity have accumulated over the past few years, these areas have begun to be perceived by many actual homebuyers as a "market that is now inaccessible."
At this point, the market asks a new question.
"If I cannot enter Gangnam, where is a place where I can enjoy a lifestyle like Gangnam?"
The collective answer to this question is Songpa and Seongdong. It is as if the geographical scope of the "smart single property" has expanded from the vicinity of Gangnam Station to the east and the north.
A 20%-range rise created by the 'second-stage recovery' after the adjustment period
During the interest rate surge in 2022, Songpa was one of the regions in Seoul with the largest declines. Prices in major complexes, including those in Jamsil, underwent rapid adjustments. However, entering 2023, the situation reversed. When many other districts in Seoul remained in negative or stagnant territory, Songpa posted positive growth rates, establishing itself as the first region to confirm its floor. After price adjustments following the 2020–2021 overheating, Seongdong also reaffirmed its status as a high-end residential area starting in 2024.
Therefore, the rise in 2024 can be seen as the first phase of recovering the losses from the 2022 decline. On the other hand, the increase of over 20% compared to the end of the previous year in 2025 corresponds to a "second stage of revaluation" layered on top of that. Price movements in this segment are not just a "return to original positions" but a process of implanting a new standard in the market that "at this level of location, this price is justified."
Songpa-gu: An option that maintains the Gangnam lifestyle while reducing price burden
The biggest pillars explaining the surge in Songpa-gu are its cluster of large-scale complexes and expectations for Jamsil redevelopment. Complexes such as Jamsil Els, Ricenz, Tridium, Lake Palace, and Heliocity have already become symbolic large-scale complexes in the metropolitan residential market. The Jamsil, Garak, and Munjeong areas, where these complexes are located, are rare residential zones equipped with well-balanced school districts, large commercial areas, parks, and office facilities.
Accessibility to Gangnam, Seolleung, and Samseong Stations via Line 2 is excellent, a commercial area is formed around Lotte World Tower, Jamsil Sports Complex, and Seokchon Lake, and connectivity with the Munjeong Legal Town, Garak Market, and Wirye New Town is also possible.
In short, the biggest advantage of Songpa is that it is a "region where you can commute to Gangnam while enjoying a more pleasant living environment than Gangnam." In terms of price, it is still one level lower than Gangnam and Seocho. From the perspective of an actual homebuyer, it is inevitable that the perception will spread that Songpa is a place that simultaneously satisfies the two conditions of a "manageable upper limit" and "maintaining a Gangnam lifestyle."
The reconstruction of old large-scale complexes along the Han River in Jamsil cannot be overlooked either. Major projects such as Jamsil Jugong Complex 5, Jangmi, and Miseong-Jinju are being discussed with the premise of raising zoning categories and high-density development. If these projects gain momentum, the Jamsil area has a high possibility of being reborn as a core axis of the southeastern region, combining international business, conventions, and housing, going beyond its existing status as a "bedroom community for Gangnam." It is this future expected value that the market is reflecting in advance with 2025 prices.
Seongdong-gu: From factory zone to emerging wealthy district north of the Han River
The transformation of Seongdong-gu is even more symbolic. Seongdong, once a mix of semi-industrial zones and aging residential areas, has acquired a completely different face with the development of Seoul Forest. High-end complexes such as Galleria Foret, Trimage, and Seoul Forest Riverview Xi have changed the scenery representing the Seongsu-dong and Seoul Forest areas.
Residential demand here is not limited to just high-income earners. A large influx of high-income people in their 30s and 40s from the IT, content, and startup industries, as well as freelancers and entrepreneurs, has occurred. Beyond "Han River views" or "product quality," they value the atmosphere of streets where cafes, select shops, galleries, and shared offices blend together. In other words, Seongdong has gone beyond being a "neighborhood where people with assets gather" to become a "neighborhood where people who create new culture gather."
The Seongsu Strategic Maintenance Zone and semi-industrial redevelopment projects institutionally support these changes. In the process of reorganizing old factory zones and densely packed multi-family housing areas into high-density mixed-use cities, the value of land, housing occupancy rights, and new apartments is rising simultaneously. There are not many areas left in central Seoul that can be reorganized on such a large scale. This is why the market evaluates Seongdong as "one of the few remaining large-scale growth engines in Seoul."
Transportation conditions also support Seongdong's rise. With Wangsimni, Hanyang University, Eungbong, Oksu, and Geumho at the center, Lines 2 and 5, the Bundang Line, and the Gyeongui-Jungang Line intersect, and by vehicle, access to either Gangnam or the city center is easy via the Hannam, Dongho, and Seongsu Bridges. For those who want their actual workplace in Gangnam but their living zone in the city center and north of the Han River, Seongdong is a very efficient option.
How to deal with the "New Gangnam Axis"
The surge in Songpa and Seongdong can be summarized in one sentence: "People who can no longer afford Gangnam have expanded Gangnam to create a new Gangnam axis." If Gangnam and Seocho are the existing centers, the high-end residential axis of Seoul is now expanding into the southeastern axis connecting Gangnam–Jamsil–Munjeong–Wirye, and the northern Han River axis connecting Hannam–Oksu–Seongsu–Wangsimni. At the point where these two axes intersect, Seoul's capital, population, and lifestyle are concentrating, and the 2025 statistics have merely shown that reality in numbers.
Policy authorities should not view this trend solely as a "subject for suppression" but should consider how to utilize and supplement it within the framework of balanced development and housing stability for all of Seoul. Individuals should not dismiss this flow merely as a "speculative frenzy" but should coolly judge what choice is most rational within their life cycle and asset structure.
The real estate market always makes you regret the past, feel anxious about the present, and overestimate the future. However, one thing is certain: the central axis of a city is not created by accident. The 20% growth rate shown by Songpa and Seongdong is a quite persuasive signpost clearly indicating where that axis is passing right now.
Kim Hak-ryul, head of the Smart Tube Real Estate Research Institute, known by his pen name "Pasyong," is a former team leader of the Real Estate Research Division at Gallup Korea. He operates and hosts the Naver blog "Pasyong's World Exploration" and the YouTube channel "Stew TV." He is the author of books including "Rewriting the Republic of Korea Real Estate User Manual (2025)," "The Power of Gyeonggi-do Real Estate (2024)," "Absolute Principles of Seoul Real Estate (2023)," "The Future of Incheon Real Estate (2022)," "Kim Hak-ryul’s Absolute Principles of Real Estate Investment (2022)," "Future Map of Korea Real Estate (2021)," and "From Now On, Only Places That Will Rise, Rise (2020)."