Geomdan City Plans Attract Speculators

The government announced the plan to develop new city in Geomdan, Incheon yesterday. After the announcement on October 27, phones were ringing off the hook at a real estate agent’s office in Geomdan, Incheon. After the announcement and apartment sales questions, the requests about investment began to focus on stores. Stores on the first floor in the area are priced with a premium of 500,000 to one million won per pyeong.

Most real estate agent offices in Geomdan closed with the spread of rumors that the government will enforce collective control.

People who move in luxury foreign cars visited several real estate agent offices to look for apartments on sale but without success.

A soon-to-be dweller of H apartment who will move in there next spring asked an agent to find a purchaser, saying that he would sell the apartment with a premium of 100 million won.

In the meantime, some 2,000 small and medium-sized companies located in Geomdan-dong are complaining. The government plans to build an industrial complex near the area and relocate the companies, but the companies are worried about the cost resulting from moving plants and setting up new facilities.

The surrounding area of Unjeong new city, Paju did not show much disturbance. As the sale prices per pyeong of an apartment exceed 12 million won, 20 percent higher than existing apartments, residents of existing apartments withdrew the sale.

A real estate agent in Gyoha, Paju said, “As the expectation of existing apartments is rising, the asking pricing increases.”

Paju city took a measure of development limit that stop approval for the new city development.