Seoul Jeonse Prices Rise 0.32%, Marking Highest Increase in 10 Years and 8 Months

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As finding *jeonse* (long-term deposit-based rental) homes in Seoul becomes increasingly difficult, weekly apartment *jeonse* prices have recorded their largest increase in 10 years and 8 months. Prices have surged significantly, particularly in large-scale apartment complexes, including those in Seongdong-gu.

Reporter Baegun has the story.

[Reporter]

An apartment complex in Seongdong-gu, Seoul.

Out of 2,100 units, there are only two properties available for *jeonse*.

[Real Estate Agent in Seongdong-gu, Seoul: Because there is a shortage of listings, landlords are asking for high prices. They believe that since there is no supply, they can command these prices. It just keeps going up.]

The *jeonse* price for a 59-square-meter unit, which traded at 570 million won in mid-April, reached 620 million won late last month and has since jumped to 700 million won this month.

Similar phenomena are occurring throughout Seoul.

In the second week of June, apartment *jeonse* prices in Seoul rose 0.32% from the previous week, marking the highest growth rate in 10 years and 8 months since October 2015.

Seongdong-gu saw the sharpest rise in Seoul at 0.64%, while steep upward trends were also observed in large-scale complexes in districts such as Dobong-gu and Songpa-gu.

[Ham Young-jin, Head of Real Estate Research Lab at Woori Bank: Since the mandatory residency requirements are effectively leading to a decrease in the supply of *jeonse* properties, a rise in *jeonse* prices appears inevitable for the time being...]

Statistics have also shown that the proportion of apartment *jeonse* in Seoul has fallen to 50.2% from 65.6% in April 2017, a decline over 9 years, though debate continues over how to interpret this reduction in *jeonse*.

On June 8, President Lee Jae-myung stated that it is natural for *jeonse* supply to decrease as existing rental properties enter the sales market following the end of the suspension of heavy capital gains taxes on multi-home owners, calling it part of a normalization process. However, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized this, stating, "It is because the supply decrease is accelerating much faster due to the government's harsh regulations."

In response, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explained that the primary cause was the decline in housing construction between 2022 and 2024 due to the real estate project financing (PF) crisis and the sharp rise in construction costs.

(Reported by Choi Ho-jun | Video by Kim Jong-mi | Graphics by Lee Yeon-jun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.