South Korea's official average land prices for 2017 rose 4.74 percent from the previous year, marking the fastest annual gain since the 2008-09 global financial crisis, government data showed Wednesday.
The rise in land prices came from growing demand as parts of government institutions and public firms moved out of Seoul and construction projects boomed on the southern resort island of Jeju and the port city of Busan, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
On an annual basis, government-set land prices have gained for the fourth consecutive year and the 4.74 percent gain marked the fastest rise since 2009, when the prices fell 1.43 percent.
By region, land prices of Seoul and its neighboring areas rose 4.4 percent on year in 2017.
Land prices of big cities, excluding Incheon, climbed 7.12 percent, according to the data.
In Seoul, average land prices of the bustling university neighborhood of Hongdae jumped 18.74 percent, while those of the popular international district Itaewon gained 10.55 percent.
By cities and provinces, Jeju marked the fastest rise with an 18.66 percent gain, followed by Busan with 9.17 percent rise and Sejong with 7.14 percent rise.
By commercial land prices, the site of a Nature Republic cosmetics store in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, retained the top spot as the most expensive land in South Korea for the 14th consecutive year.
The land price of the Nature Republic store stood at 86 million won ($75,306) per square meter as of Jan. 1 this year.
The land price of the former KEPCO headquarters in the Gangnam district, which was purchased by Hyundai Motor Group in 2014, was 34.2 million won per square meter this year, up 20.85 percent from a year earlier.
The land price of the 554.5-meter-tall Lotte World Tower skyscraper was 42 million won per square meter in 2017, up 6.06 percent from a year ago. (Yonhap)
