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Seoul’s housing market showed sharply different district trends in early September 2026, but the headline’s “9% vs. 38%” figures are not comparable mortgage shares. Nowon’s 38.33% refers to loans’ reported share of apartment purchase funding; 9.1% refers to the combined share of Seoul apartment transactions in Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa during August. Neither figure is a measure of the other.
What the 9% and 38% figures measure
The figures describe different things, areas and time periods:
| Figure | What it measures | Geography and period |
|---|---|---|
| 38.33% | Reported loan share of apartment purchase funding, based on analysis by Woori Bank’s Real Estate Research Lab reported by E-Daily on September 6, 2026. The accessible report did not establish the full calculation method or sample. | Nowon; reported in 2026, with no more precise measurement period stated in the available report summary. E-Daily |
| 9.1% | Share of Seoul apartment transactions, not a mortgage or loan share. Seoul Economic Daily reported Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport transaction data analyzed by Woori Bank’s Ham Young-jin. | Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa combined; August 2026 transactions counted in data compiled through September 4. The transaction count was provisional because the filing deadline had not passed. Seoul Economic Daily |
In the September 6 E-Daily report, the northern districts Dobong and Gangbuk also had reported loan shares of 32.43% and 31.44%, respectively. These figures come from the same reported analysis as Nowon’s, but the accessible information does not provide its full methodology.
“Gangnam three districts” means Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu and Songpa-gu together. It does not mean Gangnam-gu alone. So the shorthand “Gangnam mortgage share at 9% vs. Nowon at 38%” combines a three-district transaction share with a single-district purchase-funding share.
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What early-September price data show
Separate weekly figures from the Korea Real Estate Board, reported by Seoul Economic Daily on September 10, showed apartment prices in Seoul rising 0.20% week over week in the first week of September 2026. The reported district changes were:
| Area | Week-over-week apartment price change |
|---|---|
| Seoul overall | +0.20% |
| Gangnam-gu | -0.35% |
| Seocho-gu | -0.30% |
| Nowon-gu | +0.38% |
These are short-window index movements, not matched sale prices for otherwise similar homes. They indicate different index directions during that week, but do not show that every apartment in a district rose or fell, or establish the gap in typical home values between districts. Seoul Economic Daily
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Why the measures should not be combined
A sound district comparison needs the same measurement, geography, period and housing segment on both sides. Here, the funding figure concerns how purchases were financed in Nowon, while the transaction figure counts sales across three southern districts. The weekly figures are a third measure: changes in an official price index over one week.
- Financing versus sales: a loan share of purchase funding says nothing by itself about how many transactions took place. A transaction share does not reveal buyers’ financing mix.
- One district versus three: Nowon is a single district; the 9.1% figure combines Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa.
- Different windows: the 9.1% concerns August transactions compiled through September 4; price-index movements cover the first week of September.
- Different housing comparisons: the available reporting does not provide matched representative-home prices for Nowon and the southern districts.
What may be behind the shift in activity
Seoul Economic Daily attributed weaker activity in high-priced areas and a shift toward more affordable neighborhoods to lending restrictions and uncertainty over property-tax policy. That is the outlet’s interpretation of the market context, not proof that either factor caused the reported district differences. The August transaction count was also provisional because transaction filings were still due.
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Ham Young-jin, head of Woori Bank’s real estate research lab, told Seoul Economic Daily: “The final shape of the property tax overhaul has yet to be settled, and the possibility of further rate increases remains, so it is hard for the gap between what buyers and sellers want to close.” The outlet notes that its English edition is AI-translated from Korean, so this wording should not be treated as a verified verbatim Korean quotation. Seoul Economic Daily
Longer-term context is a separate comparison
For a different time frame, Seoul Economic Daily reported Korea Real Estate Board data showing Seoul apartment prices up 9.44% from June 27, 2025, to June 15, 2026, while Nowon was reported up 4.64% over that cited period. Those year-over-year figures offer historical context, but they cannot be merged with August transaction shares or the first-week-of-September index changes. Seoul Economic Daily
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Another figure in the September 10 report concerns a different market segment: RealHouse analysis of data from the state-run housing application site put the average August presale price for Seoul private-apartment units with 59 square meters of exclusive floor area at 1.59343 billion won. That is a new-build presale average, not a transaction-price measure for existing homes or a district-by-district comparison. Seoul Economic Daily
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What buyers and homeowners can take from the reports
- Use the 38.33% figure only as a reported loan share of purchase funding in Nowon, not as the district’s mortgage-debt rate or a general measure of affordability.
- Read 9.1% as the August transaction share for Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa together, not as Gangnam-gu’s financing share.
- Treat the weekly index movements as a snapshot of direction, not a prediction or a valuation for an individual home.
- Before drawing conclusions about affordability or relative prices, look for data that compare the same housing type, geography, time period and metric.
The figures come from news reports describing official data and analyst calculations. The available reporting does not supply complete transaction records, the full methodology for the Nowon funding calculation, or matched home-price observations; it therefore cannot establish buyer-level causes or forecast what prices will do next.
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