Jeonse deposits for apartments in Seoul have risen by more than 80 million won ($57,000) over the past two years, data showed.
The average jeonse price for a Seoul apartment stood at 636.63 million won ($455,000) last month, up 82.68 million won, or 14.9%, from 553.95 million won in August 2024, according to a nationwide housing price survey released by the Korea Real Estate Board on the 27th. Jeonse is a Korean lease system requiring a large lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent. The median jeonse price also climbed to 560 million won from 480 million won two years earlier, a gain of 80 million won, or 16.7%.
The increase in Seoul's average jeonse price far outpaced gains in Gyeonggi Province, at 11.4%, and Incheon, at 8.5%, over the same period. Listings for both jeonse and monthly-rent units have grown scarce as a shortage of newly completed homes coincided with the designation of the entire city as a land transaction permit zone, lending restrictions and a tax overhaul centered on owner-occupancy.
The current average jeonse price for Seoul apartments is an all-time high, surpassing the previous peak of 634.24 million won recorded in January 2022, when deposits soared after two tenant protection laws took effect in late July 2020.
For units leased on a monthly-rent basis with a deposit, the average deposit fell while the monthly payment rose. The average deposit for a Seoul apartment on monthly rent was 195.65 million won last month, down 0.3%, or 492,000 won, from 196.14 million won two years earlier. The monthly payment rose 24.3%, or 321,000 won, to 1.641 million won from 1.32 million won.
