South Korea home prices stabilise in June as buying in Seoul improves

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s home prices were flat in June, data showed on Monday, as prices in the capital Seoul city stopped falling for the first time in a year with sentiment improving for some apartment buildings.

The nationwide house transaction price index slipped just 0.05% in June, following a 0.22% fall in May, according to the Korea Real Estate Board. It was the smallest monthly fall since June 2022 when the index started a downtrend.

A sub-index for the capital Seoul city rose 0.05%, snapping an 11-month falling streak, while that for the greater capital area gained 0.03%. Still, 124 areas fell out of the total of 176.

A separate central bank survey in June also provided evidence that market sentiment is stabilising, with an index for South Koreans’ expectations on house prices at 100, the level which divides optimism from pessimism, after 12 straight months below the threshold.

“House prices swung to an increase in Seoul as some areas continued the rising trend with additional upward transactions in preferred residential complexes, while the decline was also softer in most other areas,” the real estate board said in a statement.

Declines in the nationwide headline index have eased this year, after a record 1.98% drop in December, on authorities’ efforts to engineer a soft landing of the market.

The government this year loosened financial regulations in the capital Seoul city area and introduced a temporary policy loan to boost demand, while the central bank has kept interest rates unchanged since its last hike in January.

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