Coliving Fills the Gap Left by Jeonse... Seoul Investment Doubles in One Year [Real Estate AtoZ]

AL Square's '2026 Seoul Coliving Market Report'

7,377 Units Supplied in 1Q to Areas Concentrated with Single-Person Households

"Not Ownership, But Residence... Beyond Leasing to Operated Residential Assets"

As the rental housing market shifts—marked by a decline in long-term lump-sum leases (jeonse) and a rise in monthly rent contracts—'coliving' housing is rapidly scaling up. Coliving refers to a type of rental housing aimed at single-person households, where private spaces such as bedrooms are separated, but communal spaces like kitchens, lounges, and laundry rooms are shared among residents. It is distinguished from typical studio apartments or officetels by the presence of an operator who manages everything from move-in to cleaning and community events.

According to the '2026 Seoul Coliving Market Report' published by the commercial real estate services company AL Square on May 21, the supply of coliving rooms in Seoul reached 7,377 units in the first quarter of this year. In 2025 alone, 1,120 new units were made available, and in the first quarter of this year, an additional 198 units—including 'Episode Convini Hongdae' and 'Weave Studio Dongdaemun East'—were added. By district, Mapo-gu leads with 1,055 units, followed by Dongdaemun-gu (974 units), Geumcheon-gu (840 units), and Seocho-gu (804 units). Supply is concentrated around university districts and major business areas.

Seoul Coliving Room Supply Trends. R-Square

The types of assets are also diversifying. While in 2023 and 2024, many coliving spaces were created by repurposing accommodations or multi-family housing, recently there has been a trend toward increased coliving supply based on officetels.

The backdrop to this trend is a structural shift in the rental housing market. The report states that officetel jeonse transactions in Seoul are projected to decline by 11% in 2025 compared to 2024, while monthly rent transactions are expected to rise by 16%. During the same period, the apartment monthly rent index in Seoul increased by 5.1%. This has been driven by several factors: stricter regulations on jeonse loans, the impact of jeonse fraud cases, and a simultaneous contraction of private jeonse supply. As tenants unable to secure jeonse contracts are pushed into the monthly rent market, demand for operator-managed, coliving-style monthly rental housing has naturally grown.

The pool of potential tenants has also deepened. According to '2025 Single-Person Households in Statistics,' published by Statistics Korea in December of last year, the share of single-person households in Seoul is 39.9%, the highest in the country. The trend of 'household diversification'—where the population of Seoul decreases but the number of households increases—is supporting demand for coliving.

In the market, coliving is increasingly seen not just as simple rental housing, but as an 'operated residential asset.' Operated residential assets are real estate properties whose value is assessed not only on rental income, but also on revenue generated from operations such as cleaning, food and beverage, and community services. Major operators are differentiating their brands by integrating community programs, fitness and relaxation facilities, and short-stay packages; some are even offering daily rental options, blurring the line between long-term leasing and short-term accommodation.

The investment market is also expanding. The scale of investments in Seoul coliving properties nearly doubled from 197 billion won in 2024 to 385 billion won in 2025. Although the base interest rate has decreased, market rates remain high, and industry sources analyze that capital seeking stable rental and operational returns from long-term holdings is increasingly being directed toward coliving assets.

Choi Kyujeong, a researcher at AL Square Research Center, stated, "Coliving is evolving from simply being small-scale rental housing to becoming a residential platform asset that generates returns through operational and service competitiveness," adding, "With the shift from lump-sum leases to monthly rents, the rise in single-person households, and the expansion of short-term residency demand, structural change in the urban residential market will only accelerate."

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