Seoul jeonse rents surge to 15-year high as shortage spreads to villas

Seoul's jeonse rents are rising sharply. As the shortage of apartment jeonse listings deepens, prospective tenants are turning to row houses and multi-family villas — and villa jeonse prices are now climbing as well.

Seoul apartment jeonse prices rose 0.29% from the previous week in the first week of June (as of June 1), an acceleration of 0.03 percentage points, according to the Korea Real Estate Board's weekly apartment price trend report. The cumulative jeonse increase in Seoul since the start of the year now stands at 3.77% — roughly six times the 0.65% recorded over the same period last year.

The Korea Real Estate Board said rental inquiries have remained steady and jeonse demand has stayed elevated, with price increases concentrated in complexes offering favorable living conditions — particularly those near top school districts, transit-oriented areas and large-scale developments.

The 14 districts north of the Han River posted a 0.34% gain, outpacing the 0.25% rise across the 11 southern districts. Songpa-gu led with a 0.50% increase, driven by large complexes in Jamsil and Sincheon-dong. Gwanak-gu rose 0.36%, led by major complexes in Bongcheon and Sillim-dong, while Dongjak-gu gained 0.29%, with strength concentrated in small- and mid-sized units in Heukseok and Sadang-dong.

Seongdong-gu climbed 0.48%, led by transit-oriented areas in Haengdang and Oksu-dong. Dobong-gu rose 0.47%, driven by large complexes in Chang and Banghak-dong. Seongbuk-gu gained 0.43%, with major complexes in Donam and Hawolgok-dong leading the way, and Nowon-gu advanced 0.41%, paced by Sanggye and Junggye-dong.

Analysts attribute the price surge to a shrinking pool of jeonse listings, as fewer new units are coming to market and owner-occupancy requirements have tightened. According to real estate big data firm Asil, Seoul had 17,116 apartment jeonse listings as of June 1 — down 32.8% from 25,943 a year earlier.

The apartment jeonse shortage is now spilling over into demand for villa rentals. Korea Real Estate Board data show that Seoul row-house jeonse prices rose 0.44% in April from the previous month — <style ref="s1">the largest monthly gain in 12 years and seven months. The cumulative increase from January through April also hit 1.34%, the highest for that period in 15 years</style>.

The rapid rise in jeonse prices is also pushing up the share of lease renewals. Data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price disclosure system show that the share of Seoul villa jeonse and monthly-rent contracts that were renewals reached 27.25% from January through April, up 0.52 percentage points from the same period last year.

The share of tenants exercising their right to request contract renewal stood at 32%, up 7.2 percentage points from 24.8% a year earlier. The figures suggest that as rental costs rise, more tenants are choosing to renew and stay an additional two years rather than move.

"Jeonse is driven primarily by genuine housing need, and supply remains structurally short, so the upward trend is unlikely to reverse quickly," said Kim Hyo-seon, a senior real estate specialist at KB Kookmin Bank. "Measures to ease the supply shortage — such as expanding the purchase-rental housing program — need to be introduced without delay."

“두 달 만에 2억 뛰었다” 삼전닉스 ‘셔세권’ 동탄 집값 상승 수도권 1위 [부동산360]

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