The Impact on Condominium Sale Prices and Jeonse Prices under the Designation of Land Transaction Permit Zones Han Woong, Lee Department of Real Estate Law The Graduate School KwangWoon University This study begins with the premise that the sale and j...
The Impact on Condominium Sale Prices and Jeonse Prices under the Designation of Land Transaction Permit Zones Han Woong, Lee Department of Real Estate Law The Graduate School KwangWoon University This study begins with the premise that the sale and jeonse(lump-sum Deposit) markets in the Seoul apartment market are structurally interconnected, dual markets. It empirically analyzes the differential impacts of the designation of land transaction permit zones in Samseong-dong, Cheongdam-dong, and Jamsil-dong in Songpa-gu, implemented on June 23, 2020, on these two markets. Most existing real estate policy studies have focused on the sale market to assess policy effects. However, the existence of jeonse, Korea's unique rental system, limits single-market analysis. Therefore, this study analyzes time-series trends in sale prices in Samseong-dong, Cheongdam-dong, and Jamsil-dong in Gangnam-gu, and three years prior to and following the designation of land transaction permit zones on June 23, 2020. The study compared the designated areas with adjacent undesignated areas, using difference-in-differences(DID) and multivariate panel regression. We constructed long-term time series data from 2005 to 2025 and conducted time series analysis using VAR and SVAR models to comprehensively verify the direct and indirect effects of the policy shock. The study found that immediately following the designation of a land transaction permit zone, transaction volume plummeted and prices fluctuated in the short term. In Gangnam-gu, transaction volume decreased by 78.3% over three months, and the per-square-meter price fell by approximately 10.2%, demonstrating a clear short-term suppression effect. However, prices gradually recovered thereafter, and at some points, upward pressure was observed to be higher than in non-permitted zones, confirming a "balloon effect." In contrast, Jamsil-dong in Songpa-gu experienced an unusually high 87.4% drop in transaction volume immediately after the designation, but the per-square-meter price rose by approximately 16.5%. This suggests that transaction restrictions and the scarcity of properties for sale drove up prices driven by actual demand in the short term. Moreover, Songpa-gu differed from Gangnam-gu in that structural price pressure persisted over the long term, and regulations continued to impact the market. The jeonse market showed a different, time-lag response from the sales market. In Gangnam-gu, jeonse prices gradually increased starting in 2017, but then began to surge after 2020. In particular, jeonse prices surged significantly around 2021. In the short term, jeonse prices in both licensed and non-licensed areas showed an upward trend, but at certain points, jeonse prices in licensed areas were higher. This is interpreted as a result of expectations of stability and scarcity in regulated areas driving demand. However, in the long term, the upward gap narrowed, weakening the effects of regulations. In contrast, the Songpa-gu jeonse market maintained its upward trend for a long time due to the direct application of regulations. In Jamsil-dong, the jeonse price ratio (jeonse-to-sales ratio) remained high, as a result of a decline in transactions and delays in sales conversions. This demonstrates that the jeonse market has been structurally burdened by the cumulative inflow of replacement demand due to the restrictions on sales into the market over time. In summary, this study empirically confirmed that the designation of land transaction permit zones has a short-term, direct impact on the sales market and a time-lag, indirect impact on the jeonse market. In particular, the rising jeonse rate has significant policy implications, as it exacerbates the housing cost burden for actual buyers, potentially contradicting the system's original purpose of protecting them. Furthermore, significant findings revealed spatial distortions, including asymmetry in market response depending on the timing of policy designation and removal, asset value gaps between regulated and non-regulated areas, and the movement of demand to neighboring areas to circumvent regulations. This demonstrates that the land transaction permit system is not simply a transaction suppression mechanism; it provides a signaling effect on market sentiment and, depending on repeatability and predictability, carries the potential for market distortion. Therefore, the land transaction permit system should not be a simple transaction regulation policy, but rather be implemented as an integrated policy package that considers the interaction between sales and jeonse and the balloon effect. Therefore, the land transaction permit system should not simply be a transaction suppression device, but rather an integrated policy package that considers the interplay between sales and leaseholds and the balloon effect. This requires complementary measures such as quantifying designation and deregistration criteria, prior impact assessments, introducing a notice system for deregistration, expanding public rental housing, and strengthening tenant protection. This study utilizes long-term data and a complex analytical framework to comprehensively present the structural impact of the land transaction permit system on the Seoul apartment market, thereby providing an empirical basis for designing sustainable real estate policies in the future. Keywords: Land Transaction Permit Zone, Sales Market, Jeonse Market, Condominium Sales.