Monthly rent nears 80% of non-apartment leases in Seoul as jeonse fades; unsold units top 25,000 in regions

The shift from jeonse to monthly rent is accelerating across Seoul's housing market, driven by tightened jeonse loan regulations and land transaction permit rules, pushing the monthly rent share of non-apartment lease deals to nearly 80% of all transactions. For apartments, the monthly rent share has also climbed steadily to 52%.

According to June 2026 housing statistics released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Thursday, monthly rent accounted for 78.1% of all jeonse and monthly rent transactions in Seoul's non-apartment segment during the first half of this year. That is 16.0 percentage points above the five-year average of 62.1% and 4 percentage points higher than the same period last year, when the figure stood at 74.1%.

The monthly rent share for Seoul apartments over the same period reached 52%, up 8.1 percentage points from 43.9% a year earlier. Across the broader Greater Seoul area, the apartment monthly rent share rose to 51.9% this year, while the non-apartment share climbed to 77.4%, both up from the previous year.

Looking at June alone, jeonse and monthly rent transaction volumes in Seoul fell year-on-year for both apartments and non-apartments. Apartment transactions totaled 22,606 cases, down 12.7% from the same month last year, while non-apartment transactions came in at 45,370 cases, a 7.4% decline over the same period. Analysts attributed the drop to stricter owner-occupancy requirements and rising jeonse prices, which have prompted more lease renewals and reduced the supply of available listings.

Nationwide home sales in June reached 68,819 transactions, up 3.5% from 66,490 the previous month. The Greater Seoul area accounted for 39,078 of those, a 1.6% increase from May's 38,477. Seoul apartment sales, however, contracted to 7,742 transactions, down 13.5% from 8,946 the month before, as loan regulations and the announcement of a tax reform plan prompted some buyers to adopt a wait-and-see stance.

Amid these trends, housing supply indicators for Seoul showed a mixed picture. Ground-breakings in June totaled 3,491 units, up 67.9% from 2,079 units in the same month last year. Permits issued, however, plunged 55.1% over the same period to 1,603 units, and move-in volume also fell 77.7% to 2,049 units.

In regional areas outside the Greater Seoul area, unsold inventory continued to grow. Nationwide unsold units as of the end of June stood at 67,464, up 3.4% from 65,239 in May. Of those, 18,770 were in the Greater Seoul area and 48,694 in regional areas.

Particularly concerning, post-completion unsold units in regional areas — widely regarded as the most problematic form of unsold inventory — surpassed 25,000, reaching 25,091. That figure has surged by 16,401 units from 8,690 at the end of 2023, a near-tripling in less than three years. In the Greater Seoul area, post-completion unsold units edged down to 4,695 at the end of June from 4,828 the month before.