High Rents Drive People Out of Seoul

Skyrocketing rents and Korean-style lease deposits in Seoul are leading to an exodus to the suburbs.

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Analysis of figures from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport found that 23,134 apartments or homes in Gyeonggi Province were bought by individuals registered as Seoul residents between January and July of this year.

That marks a 41-percent surge compared to the same period last year.

Seoul residents also bought 3,574 homes in the nearby port city of Incheon over the same period, up almost 45 percent.

Kim Gwang-seok at real estate consultancy Real Today said, "As the property market started to recover, some people bought homes for investment purposes, but most of the purchases were by people who wanted more affordable housing outside of the capital".

Apartments in the satellite cities of Hanam, Guri and Gwangmyeong just outside of Seoul are in high demand.

Hanam saw 2,387 new home purchases during the first seven months of this year, which is more than all of home sales in the area in 2014. In Guri, 664 homes were sold over the same period, more than the entire volume in 2014.

Gwangmyeong saw 1,001 home purchases, up 47 percent on-year.