1 Million Won Monthly Rent Is Now the Median in Seoul... Growing Anxiety in the Rental Market [Real Estate AtoZ]

Median Monthly Rent Hits 1,007,000 Won in December
Psychological Threshold for High-Priced Rents Surpassed
First Time Since Korea Real Estate Board Began Tracking
Growing Concerns Over Housing Instability for Renters

Last month, the median monthly rent for homes in Seoul surpassed 1 million won. The psychological threshold of "1 million won" for high-priced monthly rents is no longer limited to highly sought-after areas or newly built apartments; it has now become a common sight in many neighborhoods.

Over the past year, monthly rents have followed the surge in home sale prices. Several factors have contributed to this trend, including increased rental demand due to real estate policies that have made it harder to purchase homes, tenants seeking to avoid rental deposit fraud, and landlords seeking to secure monthly rental income amid low interest rates. As monthly rents, which generally impose a heavier housing cost burden than rental deposits, have risen, concerns about housing insecurity among tenant households have grown.

According to data from the Korea Real Estate Board released on January 15, the median monthly rent in Seoul in December 2025 was 1,007,000 won. A month earlier, in November, the median rent was 995,000 won. In comparison, the median monthly rent for homes in other regions was 506,000 won, about half the level of Seoul.

The median value represents the middle point when all data points are arranged in order. This is the first time since the Korea Real Estate Board began tracking the data that Seoul's median monthly rent has exceeded 1 million won. The average monthly rent surpassed 1 million won four years ago, in July 2021, reaching 1,052,000 won.

The average can be distorted by a small number of extremely high or low samples. In contrast, the median is less affected by such outliers and is more suitable for reflecting the typical situation. This means that for an average household renting in Seoul, paying 1 million won per month in housing costs has become the norm.

While monthly rents in Seoul had been rising gradually, the pace accelerated sharply in the second half of last year. According to the Korea Real Estate Board, the integrated monthly rent price index rose by 3.27% over the past year, with a 1.57% increase occurring just between October and December. Analysis of transaction data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport shows that there were 3,860 monthly rent transactions of 1 million won or more for apartments in Seoul last month, nearly three times the number recorded during the same period ten years ago (1,304 cases in December 2015). The proportion of monthly rent contracts with rents of 1 million won or more also increased from 26% to 39% of all monthly rent contracts.

The reasons behind the rise in monthly rents are complex. First, the trend of "conversion from rental deposits to monthly rent," which had slowed for a while, has again had an impact. Due to issues such as "Kangtong Jeonse" (rental deposit fraud) and rental scams, particularly involving non-apartment properties like villas and officetels, tenants continue to avoid rental deposit contracts. Although monthly rent is more expensive, tenants now prefer it for its perceived safety.

The sharp rise in rental deposit prices is another factor. In popular areas of Seoul, the rental deposit for new apartments now exceeds the price of several apartments in other regions. In these cases, many tenants take out loans, and an increasing number of people see little difference between repaying loan interest and paying monthly rent to landlords. Government efforts to control household debt by tightening mortgage and rental deposit loans have also made it harder to raise large sums of money.

Additionally, as asset markets such as stocks and cryptocurrencies have become more active, more people prefer to invest their funds rather than tie up large sums in home purchases or rental deposits. With the ongoing low interest rate environment, more landlords are seeking to receive monthly rental income.

View of apartment buildings in downtown Seoul from Namsan. Photo by Yonhap News

Park Wongap, Senior Real Estate Research Fellow at KB Kookmin Bank, said, "Rental prices are inevitably linked to home sale prices, and since apartment prices in Seoul surged last year, rents were bound to rise after a certain time lag. The two key rental laws (the right to request contract renewal and the cap on rent increases) have also accelerated the shift to monthly rents and affected prices."

High monthly rents are now frequently seen even outside Seoul's most expensive areas, such as the three Gangnam districts, Yongsan District, and neighborhoods near the Han River. For example, on January 13, a 59-square-meter unit in Sanggye Jugong Complex 7 in Nowon District, which is nearly 40 years old, was reported to have been rented for a deposit of 50 million won and a monthly rent of 1 million won. In the Sanggye-dong and Junggye-dong areas, older apartment complexes such as Jugong Apartments are known to have a relatively high proportion of expensive monthly rents due to strong short-term demand from families seeking proximity to local academies. Similarly, a 70-square-meter unit in Sindonga Apartments in Banghak-dong, Dobong District, was contracted for a deposit of 50 million won and a monthly rent of 1.1 million won.