▲ A view of real estate listings posted at a real estate agency in Jongno-gu, Seoul. (File photo)
The proportion of monthly rent transactions in Seoul's apartment lease market has exceeded 50% for the first time from the beginning of this year through last month.
According to an analysis of apartment transaction data from the Seoul Real Estate Information Plaza, monthly rent transactions for Seoul apartments totaled 87,740 cases from January to September this year, accounting for 51% of all lease transactions (both jeonse and monthly rent).
During the same period, jeonse (lump-sum deposit lease) transactions stood at 84,287 cases, which was 3,453 cases fewer than monthly rent transactions.
In the same period last year, monthly rent transactions reached 90,310 cases and jeonse transactions stood at 116,272 cases, putting the monthly rent share at 43.7%. However, the figure rose by 7.3 percentage points in a year.
The monthly rent share surpassing half is largely attributed to a sharp plunge in jeonse transactions rather than an increase in monthly rent deals.
While monthly rent transactions decreased by 2.8% year-on-year between January and September this year, jeonse transactions plummeted by as much as 27.5%.
The steep drop in jeonse transactions is interpreted as the result of a combination of factors, including tightened regulations on jeonse loans, a shortage of jeonse properties, and an increase in contract renewals by existing tenants.
As jeonse transactions plunged, the number of autonomous districts where monthly rent transactions outnumbered jeonse deals surged from 4 to 13 within a year.
In the same period last year, regions where monthly rent transactions exceeded jeonse were limited to just four areas, including Geumcheon-gu, Jongno-gu, Jung-gu, and Guro-gu. This year, nine districts were newly added, including Gangnam-gu, Gangbuk-gu, Gwanak-gu, Gwangjin-gu, Dongdaemun-gu, Mapo-gu, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Yongsan-gu, and Jungnang-gu.
By district, Jongno-gu recorded the highest monthly rent share at 65.6%, followed by Jungnang-gu at 64.9%, Guro-gu at 63.1%, Jung-gu at 59.6%, Geumcheon-gu at 58.7%, Yongsan-gu at 56.9%, and Dongdaemun-gu at 56.7%.
In particular, Jungnang-gu saw its monthly rent share jump from 44.6% in the same period last year to 64.9% this year, marking the largest increase among Seoul's 25 autonomous districts at 20.3 percentage points.
According to the Korea Real Estate Board's nationwide housing price trends survey, the average monthly rent for Seoul apartments in September stood at 1,661,000 won, up 218,000 won from a year ago. The median monthly rent, which represents the midpoint for households paying monthly rent, also jumped from 1.2 million won to 1.4 million won over the year.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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