Oh Se-hoon secures fifth term as Seoul mayor amid surging home prices in Han River districts

Incumbent Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon secured his fifth term in the June 3 local elections, with surging home prices appearing to have played a pivotal role in his win.

Oh drew strong support from districts that recorded the largest gains in apartment values . It helped him overcome factors that had favored the Democratic Party (DP), including the government's campaign to hold alleged insurrection forces accountable, high approval ratings for the administration and a booming stock market.

Oh won after a closely fought race against the DP’s Chong Won-o, with his victory confirmed on  Thursday after 15 hours of counting. He won 49.15 percent of the vote, compared to Chong's 48.13 percent.

Oh received more votes than DP candidate Chong in only 10 of Seoul's 25 districts, according to the National Election Commission.

The 10 districts were Songpa, Dongjak, Seocho and Gangnam districts in southern Seoul; Gwangjin and Gangdong districts in eastern Seoul; Yangcheon and Yeongdeungpo districts in western Seoul; and Yongsan and Jung districts in central Seoul.

In other words, despite Oh being at a disadvantage, judging solely by the number of districts, voter support for Oh in those 10 districts outweighed Chong's support across the remaining 15 districts.

Of those, eight districts — excluding Gangnam and Seocho — ranked among the top 10 districts for apartment price growth since President Lee Jae Myung took office.

Cumulative housing price increases during the Lee administration, from the first week of June last year through the first week of June this year, were highest in eastern Seoul’s Seongdong District with 20.49  percent, according to the Korea Real Estate Board's weekly apartment market index.

This was followed by southern Seoul’s Songpa District by 16.98 percent, western Seoul’s Mapo District with 15.81  percent, eastern Seoul’s Gwangjin District with 15.61  percent, western Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo District with 14.62 percent, western Seoul’s Yangcheon District with 14.44 percent, eastern Seoul’s Gangdong District with 13.07 percent, southern Seoul’s Dongjak District with 13.06 percent, central Seoul’s Jung District with 12.13 percent and central Seoul’s Yongsan District with 12.11 percent.

With the exception of Seongdong and Mapo districts, Oh won all of the districts in the top 10 for home price growth.

Seongdong District was considered an exception because Chong previously served three terms as district mayor there, giving him a strong local political base.

Seocho District, where prices rose 10.51 percent, ranking at No. 12, and Gangnam District, where prices rose  7.96  percent, ranked at No. 19, did not make the top 10 because housing prices declined during the period when the government intensified pressure on owners of multiple homes earlier this year.

Industry observers say the results reflected voters' desire to protect asset values.

They point to a series of government measures introduced after the Lee administration took office, including strict lending regulations announced on June 27, a policy enacted on Oct. 15, 2025, that designated all of Seoul as a land transaction permit zone and subsequent measures targeting owners of multiple homes and signaling revisions to property taxes.

Those policies are believed to have strengthened what is known as patrimonial voting, in which voters cast ballots based on perceived impacts on their assets. Such voting patterns have traditionally been associated with Seoul's affluent southern districts, where real estate accounts for a large share of household wealth.

However, as housing prices surged across the broader Han River riverside area after the current administration took office, asset-based voting appears to have expanded geographically as well.

Oh's victories in Yangcheon and Yeongdeungpo, both traditionally progressive districts, are believed to have been driven in part by expectations for major redevelopment projects in Mok-dong and Yeouido.

The influence of real estate concerns was evident not only in the mayoral race but also in district mayor elections.

PPP candidates won district mayor races in eight of Seoul's 25 districts. Six of those districts — Songpa, Gwangjin, Yangcheon, Gangdong, Yongsan and Jung — were among the top 10 districts for home price growth. The remaining two were Gangnam and Seocho districts.

“Since the current administration took office, home prices have risen sharply, and recently, both jeonse [long-term housing rental deposits] and monthly rents have also been high,” said Seo Jin-hyung, a professor of real estate law at Kwangwoon University.

“For end-users, housing insecurity has grown amid concerns that if they cannot buy a home now, they may never be able to. For wealthier homeowners, regulatory fatigue has accumulated. In the end, public resentment toward real estate policies appears to have had a significant impact on the election."

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY KIM JUN-YOUNG [[email protected]]