Seoul Housing Jeonse Ratio Hits Record Low of 48.9% in First Half of This Year

Seoul Detached and Multi-family Jeonse Share at 27.6%
Apartment Jeonse Share Slightly Rises to 58.3% Compared to Same Period Last Year

This year, in the first half of the year, the proportion of jeonse (long-term lease) transactions in the Seoul housing rental market (including apartments, detached houses, multi-family houses, multi-unit houses, and row houses) was confirmed to be at an all-time low. It is interpreted that tenants chose monthly rent over jeonse due to jeonse fraud and reverse jeonse crises, which caused numerous victims nationwide.

On the 26th, Economic Man Lab, a real estate information provider, examined the Seoul Real Estate Information Plaza and found that from January to June this year, the total number of jeonse and monthly rent transactions in Seoul housing was 277,769. Among these, jeonse transactions accounted for 135,771 and monthly rent transactions for 141,998, making the jeonse proportion 48.9%.

This is the first time since related statistics began to be compiled in 2011 that the jeonse proportion in the Seoul housing rental market did not exceed 50% in the first half of the year.

The jeonse proportion in Seoul housing in the first half of the year declined from 71.1% in 2013 to 63.3% in 2014, 59.0% in 2015, and 54.7% in 2016. It then rose to 57.2% in 2017, 60.5% in 2018, 61.6% in 2019, and 62.4% in 2020, before falling again to 57.9% in 2021 and dropping further to 50.8% last year.

In particular, the jeonse proportion for non-apartment housing this year in the first half was less than 30%. Among 74,788 jeonse and monthly rent transactions for detached and multi-family houses, jeonse transactions accounted for only 27.6% (20,620). For multi-unit and row houses, among 64,448 transactions, jeonse transactions accounted for 53.4% (34,440).

On the other hand, jeonse demand seems to be recovering for apartments. The jeonse proportion for Seoul apartments recorded an all-time low of 57.8% in the first half of last year but slightly increased to 58.3% in the first half of this year.

Hwang Hansol, a research fellow at Economic Man Lab, said, “Since the issue of non-return of jeonse deposits mainly occurs in non-apartment housing, the preference for monthly rent in non-apartments is bound to increase,” adding, “This could accelerate housing instability for low-income residents.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.