According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s actual transaction price disclosure system, a 273㎡ unit at Nine One Hannam in Hannam-dong, Yongsan District, Seoul, was sold for 25 billion won, setting a new record for the highest home sale of the year. The complex is also well known as the residence of celebrities such as G-Dragon, BTS members RM and Jimin, and actor Ju Ji-hoon. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Seoul’s luxury housing market posted one of the world’s sharpest price increases over the past year, rising more than 25 percent and ranking second among major global cities, according to new data released Tuesday.
In its latest Prime Global Cities Index, British property consultancy Knight Frank reported that prices for the top 5 percent of homes in Seoul climbed 25.2 percent from a year earlier as of the third quarter of 2025. The capital jumped 12 spots from the previous year, though it slipped slightly from its recent three-quarter run at No. 1.
Tokyo topped the list with an extraordinary 55.9 percent annual increase, including a 30.2 percent jump in the July–September quarter alone—far outpacing the maximum quarterly rises of about 2.5 percent seen in most other surveyed markets.
Knight Frank attributed Tokyo’s surge to a weak yen, expanded foreign investment and a favorable political climate, along with buyers being priced out of new construction and turning aggressively to existing homes.
Following Tokyo and Seoul, India’s Bengaluru and the United Arab Emirates’ Dubai each recorded 9.2 percent price growth, followed by Mumbai, Singapore, Madrid, Zurich, Manila and Nairobi. Six of the top 10 cities were in Asia, underscoring the region’s outsized momentum as European markets continued to lag.
China was a notable outlier. Luxury home prices fell year-on-year in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong as Beijing prioritizes high-tech industries and consumer spending over property-sector stimulus. Knight Frank said the policy shift is likely to suppress high-end demand for at least the next nine to twelve months.
Across all 46 global cities in the index, average luxury prices rose 2.5 percent in the past year, down from 3 percent in the previous quarter. Knight Frank said the two-year global cooling trend may ease as interest rates decline, forecasting stronger price growth in 2026, though likely not before mid-first quarter.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
