Seoul real estate ranks among the world's most expensive because geographic constraints meet demographic concentration. South Korea is 70% mountainous, leaving roughly 12% of land suitable for development. Meanwhile, the Seoul Capital Area houses 26 million people—half the nation's population—on a fraction of that buildable space. This creates pressure that makes Manhattan look spacious by comparison. Cultural factors amplify the problem. Koreans strongly prefer brand-new apartments (fewer than 10 years old) in established school districts like Gangnam, Seocho, and Songpa. These preferences concentrate demand into narrow inventory. Families often view real estate as the primary wealth-building vehicle, not just shelter, which sustains speculative buying even when prices disconnect from fundamentals. Government policy plays both sides. Seoul enforces strict greenbelt preservation zones around the city that prevent sprawl but also choke supply. Multiple cooling measures—transaction taxes up to 60%, loan restrictions, multiple-home ownership penalties—have failed to durably lower prices because they don't address the core supply shortage. When restrictions ease slightly, prices rebound. The chaebol economy matters too. Samsung, Hyundai, LG, and other conglomerates centralize high-paying jobs in Seoul, particularly Gangnam's Teheran Valley tech corridor. Unlike North American cities where remote work dispersed demand post-2020, Korean corporate culture kept workers tethered to offices, sustaining Seoul's appeal. From an SEO perspective, this question appears in searches from expats, investors, and English-speaking Koreans. Content targeting it should address purchasing restrictions foreigners face, compare price-per-square-meter to Vancouver or Toronto (Seoul often costs more), and explain jeonse—the unique Korean deposit system that ties up capital differently than Western rentals. Ottawa SEO structures real estate content around these friction points because searchers need actionable context, not just macro explanations. When we optimize for industries intersecting finance and geography, we focus on the specific barriers audiences face, whether that's foreign buyer taxes in Toronto or land scarcity in Seoul.