Published : Jan. 27, 2016 - 15:36
The average price of land in South Korea rose 2.4 percent on-year in 2015, fueled by low interest rates and easing regulations on property development, the government said Wednesday.
Apartment buildings are seen in Seoul. (Yonhap)
The increase is the highest since 2008, when land prices slipped 0.32 percent amid a global financial crisis, said the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The ministry said prices rose across the board last year, with numbers moving up the most on Jejudo Island off the country’s southern coast, which surged 7.57 percent on-year. Land prices in Sejong, home to many government ministries and state-run think tanks, rose 4.57 percent, followed by a 4.06 percent increase in Daegu.
Lower borrowing costs are also helping to fuel demand to trigger a rise in land prices, ministry officials said.
Meanwhile, the total area of land that traded hands last year reached over 3.08 million plots of land, or 2,181 square kilometers, up 16.8 percent via-a-vis the year before.
This is the highest gain since 2.64 million plots of land were traded in 2006.
(khnews@heraldcorp.com)