[Edaily Reporter KIM EUN KYOUNG ] On the morning of the 28th, I visited the Jung-dong area in Wonmi-gu, Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. Although it was a weekday morning and there weren’t many residents moving about the apartment complex, the phones at real estate agencies rang intermittently with inquiries about properties for sale. Local real estate agents explained that purchase inquiries are on the rise as homebuyers, burdened by Seoul’s high housing prices, are turning their attention to Bucheon.

An official from Real Estate Agency A said, “Since housing prices in Seoul are so expensive, demand is shifting toward Gyeonggi Province,” adding, “Inquiries about purchasing have increased significantly, particularly from newlyweds.” He continued, “However, rather than a dramatic increase in transaction volume, the situation is such that the few properties available on the market are being sold at high prices due to a shortage of listings.”

A representative from Real Estate Agency B also cited the shortage of available properties as the main cause of price increases. “When a property is sold at the highest price, that price becomes the benchmark for the next one,” he said. “In a seller’s market, homeowners have no reason to lower their prices, so sales prices keep rising even with low transaction volumes.”

In fact, record-high transactions have been occurring across various parts of Jung-dong recently. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s actual transaction price disclosure system, a unit at Hillstate Jung-dong (exclusive area: 104㎡) was sold last month for 1.78 billion won. This price is 170 million won higher than the 1.61 billion won recorded last October. Eunha Village Jugong Complex 2 (exclusive area: 58㎡) also hit a record high last month, selling for 730 million won. This represents a 130 million won increase from the 600 million won recorded last September—a rise of 130 million won in just one year.

This upward trend is also reflected in the statistics. According to the Korea Real Estate Board, apartment prices in Wonmi-gu, Bucheon, rose 0.52% in the second week of October, marking the highest rate of increase since district-level statistics began being compiled in the second week of January 2024. Prices also rose 0.46% in the third week. The cumulative increase through the third week of October this year stands at 7.28%, approximately 33 times higher than the 0.22% recorded during the same period last year.

Local real estate agencies analyzed that the combination of loan restrictions and rising jeonse prices is stimulating buyer sentiment. An official from Real Estate Agency B stated, “Since jeonse prices keep rising and it’s getting harder to secure loans, more people are deciding to buy a home now,” adding, “Not long ago, a female office worker who had been living alone in a jeonse apartment came to look at properties in advance, saying she thought it would be difficult to renew her lease.”

Some analysts suggest that apartment prices in Jung-dong have entered a phase of “convergence,” narrowing the price gap with surrounding areas. Although Jung-dong is a first-generation new town developed alongside Bundang and Ilsan in Gyeonggi Province, its housing prices have risen more slowly in comparison. An official from Real Estate Agency A noted, “The gap has widened significantly not only with other first-generation new towns but also with Gwangmyeong, where housing prices were once similar,” assessing the recent upward trend as a process of correcting previous undervaluation.

Accessibility to Seoul is another factor attracting actual buyers. Using Subway Line 7’s Bucheon City Hall Station, residents can travel to the Gangnam area without having to transfer. Mr. C, a newlywed in his 30s whom we met in Jungdong, said, “We recently bought an apartment here considering my husband’s commute to Gangnam,” adding, “We couldn’t even dream of living in Seoul from the start.”

“We originally planned to start our married life in Seoul with a jeonse lease, but it was too expensive, there were no available properties, and getting a loan was difficult, so we ended up buying a home in Bucheon,” she explained. “I’d like to move to Seoul someday, but seeing how housing prices are rising these days, I’m anxious that it will only get harder,” she confided.

However, there are regional disparities even within Wonmi District. While high price ranges have formed in Jung-dong and Sang-dong, centered around major apartment complexes, Wonmi-dong has many relatively affordable apartments. Within Jung-dong, prices continue to rise, particularly in older complexes where redevelopment projects—such as Eunha Village—are underway.

Ham Young-jin, head of the Real Estate Research Lab at Woori Bank, stated, “Given that housing prices in neighboring areas such as Guro and Geumcheon in Seoul and Gwangmyeong in Gyeonggi Province have risen significantly, Bucheon is bound to be affected as well,” and predicted that the trend of actual homebuyers moving to outlying areas of the Seoul metropolitan region—where prices are relatively more affordable—will continue.