00:06Before you sign anything in Korea's property market, three things changed this week.
00:12Mortgage rates on 30-year fixed loans could cross 8% before the year is out.
00:18In Seoul's 2 billion to 3 billion won segment, listings jumped 15% in under a month and buyers
00:26are nowhere to be found.
00:27And starting next month, a size cutoff tied to a corporate loan program is already reshaping
00:34which apartments are worth more.
00:36It's Friday, August 28th.
00:38Let's look at what's happening in Korea's property market.
00:43The government's tax overhaul triggered a wave of listings in what agents call the less
00:48prized segment, apartments priced between 2 billion and 3 billion won.
00:53At the same time, the Bank of Korea raised its policy rate for a second straight month,
00:58pushing mortgage costs higher across the board.
01:02And Samsung Electronics is preparing to roll out a company-wide home loan program that only
01:07applies to units of 85 square meters or smaller starting September 1st.
01:13Here's what the numbers show.
01:15Listings of 2 billion to 3 billion won apartments in Seoul climbed to 11,245 units on August 26th,
01:24up 15% from 9,775 before the tax announcement.
01:30That increase outpaces even the 9.7% rise seen in homes over 4 billion won.
01:37The segment tax hikes were originally expected to hit hardest.
01:41At one Yongsan complex, a mid-size unit's listings more than doubled from 47 to 100, while the
01:49asking price dropped by 100 million won.
01:54Five major banks now offer 5-year fixed mortgage rates as high as 7.17%, up from 6.23%
02:03last December.
02:05Samsung's new loan program covers units up to 85 square meters and 2.5 billion won in value,
02:12effective September 1st. And it's already inverting prices. One 84 square meter unit in Dongtan
02:19now sells for more than a larger 89 square meter unit in the same complex.
02:26Gyeonggi's Suwon Yongtong district posted a 0.75% weekly price gain, its sharpest rise this year,
02:33while Seoul's Gangnam district actually fell 0.11%.
02:38So what does this mean for buyers weighing a purchase this year?
02:42Earlier, we said listings were piling up with no buyers in sight.
02:47That stalemate means sellers may need to cut prices further before deals actually close.
02:53If you're eyeing a unit near a Samsung site, size now matters more than square footage alone suggests,
03:00since anything at or under 85 square meters carries a real pricing premium.
03:05And with fixed mortgage rates edging toward 8%,
03:10waiting for a lower price might not offset the higher financing cost.
03:15That's today's AI Prism, real estate.
03:18This episode was produced with AI assistance based on Seoul Economic Daily reporting,
03:24and reviewed by a human editor.
03:26AI Prism is a Juan Ifra award-winning series. We'll be back tomorrow.
03:31You've been listening to AI Prism from Seoul Economic Daily.
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