Hacker News Reader

Comment by duchenne | Hacker News Reader

Interesting case: Seoul. No earthquakes. 20-story buildings everywhere [1]. Construction cranes everywhere.

Still real estate is very expensive ( 13K$ per square meter for something downtown [2] )

The main effect of building so much is that now almost half of the South Korean population lives around Seoul.

[1] https://www.mensjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Seoul... [2] https://www.numbeo.com/property-investment/in/Seoul

View on HN

   real estate is 
   very expensive

Can it even be the case that real estate is "very expensive" when almost half of the South Korean population can afford to live around Seoul? Dwelling expenses should be evaluated relative to available household income. I conjecture that Seoul's population on average spends roughly the same fraction of household income as they did 10, 20 and 100 years ago.

Are Seoul prices depressed due to the inevibility of instant destruction if a new Korean War starts up?

20 storeys I would consider relatively low still. I've spent some time in Bangkok, where plenty of buildings are 30+ floors. One of the great things about a building like that is the facilities that can also be offered with it. They usually have driveways well suited for drop-offs & pickups, as well as very nice swimming pools and gyms, possibly along with other common areas. (couches, pool tables, study areas, etc.)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com