Bundang's 30-Year-Old Flats Outprice New Seoul Apartments in July Trades

July 2026 apartment filings in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s real-transaction disclosure system point to one dominant pattern in the capital region: buyers are paying more per square meter for three-decade-old small flats in Seongnam’s Bundang district than for nearly new, full-sized apartments inside Seoul. A 36-square-meter unit at Geumgok Cheongsol Jugong Complex 9, completed in 1995, changed hands for 1.045 billion won on July 11 — roughly 29 million won per square meter. That is more than the 26 million won per square meter fetched by an 84-square-meter unit at Godeok Arteon in Seoul’s Gangdong district, a 4,066-household complex completed in 2020, which sold for 2.185 billion won on July 5.

The Land Under the Apartment, Not the Apartment

Bundang’s July trades read less like purchases of homes than of future building rights. At Jeongja Hansol Maeul Jugong Complex 5, a 12-building estate occupied since October 1994, a fourth-floor 41-square-meter unit sold for 1.27 billion won on July 16. The neighboring Jugong Complex 4 saw the same floor plan trade at 1.2 billion won on July 15 and 1.19 billion won six days later. At Geumgok Cheongsol Jugong 9, a 42-square-meter unit went for 1.25 billion won on July 11, days after an eighth-floor unit of the same type sold for 1.2 billion won.

These are prices that make little sense for the flats as they stand — cramped 1990s construction with per-square-meter values above new Seoul towers. They are consistent with expectations that Bundang, the most prized of Korea’s first-generation new towns, will be rebuilt under the government’s redevelopment framework, with today’s small units converting into stakes in tomorrow’s larger ones. Newer Bundang-area stock traded firmly too: a 115-square-meter unit at Sanun Maeul 13 in Unjung-dong sold for 1.885 billion won on July 10, and a first-floor 59-square-meter unit at Wirye Jayeon&Central Xi went for 1.73 billion won on July 9.

Ilsan Tells the Other Half of the Story

The same disclosure data shows how unevenly that redevelopment premium is distributed. Ilsan in Goyang — a first-generation new town of the same vintage as Bundang — recorded a 59-square-meter unit at Pungdong Supsok Maeul 8 selling for just 325 million won on July 17, and a similar-sized unit at Janghang Hosu Maeul 2 Hyundai for 440 million won. That is roughly five to six million won per square meter, about a fifth of Bundang’s level for comparable-age housing. Even Ilsan’s newest large complex, the 2,404-household Y-City in Baekseok-dong completed in 2016, topped out at 1.14 billion won for a 103-square-meter unit.

The gap extends beyond the capital region. In Busan’s Hwamyeong-dong, a 115-square-meter unit at Lotte Castle Kaiser — a 5,239-household complex — sold for 710 million won on July 30. A Bundang buyer paid nearly twice that in July for a unit one-third the size.

Seoul and Gwanggyo Hold the Upper Band

Within Seoul, Gangdong district produced a dense cluster of trades: besides the Godeok Arteon sale, a 59-square-meter unit at Godeok Central Purgio sold for 1.65 billion won on July 7, a 58-square-meter unit at Amsa Seonsa Hyundai for 1.52 billion won on July 14, and a 59-square-meter unit at Gangil River Park 3 for 1.25 billion won. In Gangnam, a 34-square-meter unit at Suseo Kkachi Maeul — another 1993-vintage complex — fetched 1.545 billion won on July 28, echoing the Bundang pattern of old, small and expensive.

Notably, Gwanggyo in Suwon now trades shoulder to shoulder with eastern Seoul: an 84-square-meter unit at Gwanggyo Jayeon&Hillstate sold for 2.1 billion won on July 11, within striking distance of Godeok Arteon’s price for the same floor plan. In Yongin’s Suji district, a 99-square-meter unit at Seongbok Station Lotte Castle Gold Town went for 1.945 billion won.

Wide Spreads Inside Single Complexes

The July data also shows how much floor level and timing moved prices within identical floor plans. At Yeongtong Byeokjeokgol Lotte in Suwon, a 20th-floor 49-square-meter unit sold for 550 million won on July 9, while a first-floor unit of the same type went for 370 million won four days later — a 49 percent premium for elevation. In Songdo, Incheon, a 35th-floor 59-square-meter unit at The Sharp Central City brought 747 million won on July 11; an identical sixth-floor unit sold for 95 million won less on July 29. At Yeongtong Hwanggol Jugong 1 in Suwon, the same 59-square-meter type traded at 580 million won on July 15 and 645 million won on July 30 — a 65 million won jump inside two weeks.

For buyers reading the July record, the message is uncomfortable but clear: in the capital region’s redevelopment-candidate districts, the market is pricing land and entitlement, not livable space — and the spread between the towns that expect rebuilding and those still waiting has rarely looked wider.