As the rental deposit market worsens due to a shortage of dwellings supply, Seoul apartment jeonse prices are soaring. Centered on the three Gangnam districts (Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa), complexes where the jeonse for standard national floor plans exceeds 2 billion won are rapidly increasing. Some places saw jeonse jump as much as 600 million won in a week.
According to the actual transaction price system of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 27th, among Seoul apartment jeonse contracts for exclusive areas of "over 60㎡ to 85㎡ or less" concluded from Jan. 1 to on the 24th, there were a total of 25 contracts with deposits exceeding 2 billion won. This is an increase compared with the same period in 2024, when there were 5 jeonse contracts with deposits over 2 billion won, and 16 in the previous year.
The most expensive jeonse was at Trimage in Seongsu-dong 1-ga, Seongdong District. The 84㎡ exclusive unit at Trimage concluded a jeonse contract on the 11th of last month with a deposit of 2.48 billion won. Next were "Raemian One Bailey" in Banpo-dong, Seocho District (2.3 billion won), and Cheongdam LEEL in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam District (2.2 billion won). By district, Seocho District had the most transactions with 22, followed by Seongdong District with 2 and Gangnam District with 1.
The pace of jeonse price increases is also widening. According to data analyzed by real estate big data firm Asil on Seoul apartment complexes with the largest week-over-week jeonse gains, the 114㎡ exclusive unit at "Lecenz" in Jamsil-dong, Songpa District, which transacted at 1.4 billion won (33rd floor) on the 11th, concluded a jeonse contract at 2.05 billion won (25th floor) on the 17th, up 650 million won. Although this is a simple comparison with the previous transaction, the upward trend is steep considering jeonse was in the 1.5 billion to 1.6 billion won range early last year. The 114㎡ exclusive unit at "Olympic Athlete Press Village" in Bangi-dong, Songpa District, saw its jeonse rise by 400 million won in a week, from 1.1 billion won to 1.5 billion won.
An official at a Songpa District certified real estate agency said, "There is some price variation in jeonse transactions, but the rise has become particularly steep this month," and noted, "As multi-homeowners sell units they used to rent out and jeonse listings plummet, even listings with deposits set 200 million to 300 million won higher than the previous transaction are being contracted quickly."
This trend is also evident in the statistics. According to the weekly apartment price trends for the third week of April (as of the 20th) released by the Korea Real Estate Board (REB), Seoul apartment jeonse prices rose 0.22% from the previous week. This is the highest since the fourth week of December 2019 (0.23%) under Moon Jae-in. By district, Songpa and Seongbuk each rose 0.39% from the previous week, the steepest increases in Seoul.
The sharp rise in jeonse prices is due to a supply shortage. According to Real Estate R114, the nationwide number of general apartment presales in the first quarter of this year was 17,216 households, down 61.5% from the previous quarter. A decrease in move-in volume is a factor that stokes instability in the lease market. As all of Seoul and parts of Gyeonggi Province have been designated as land transaction permit zones, creating a two-year mandatory occupancy requirement, and as those taking out a mortgage loan must move in within six months, these factors are also having an impact.