Driven by a slowdown in the growth of apartment prices in Gangnam-gu, the weekly increase rate in apartment prices in 11 districts in southern Seoul declined from the previous week for the first time in eight months in the last week of May, data from the Korea Appraisal Board showed.

The rise in apartment prices in metropolitan areas also weakened for the first time in 70 weeks.

As of the survey conducted on May 28, apartment prices in Seoul rose 0.03 percent, smaller than 0.04 percent recorded the previous week.

The trend comes in light of significant reduction in the transaction volume of apartments in the capital city.

Prices of jeonse, or two-year leases with down payments, have also been dropping, marking the largest drop in six years in April, according to the Bank of Korea. As of April, the average jeonse price dropped 0.4 percent from the previous month, the biggest decline since July of 2012. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)