In September 2026, the median monthly rent on a new apartment lease in Korea was ₩560,000, with a median deposit of ₩30m, across 26,193 new leases. Counting renewals too, the median was ₩500,000.
Sorted from highest to lowest median monthly rent. Select a region to compare its cities, counties and districts.
| Region | Monthly rent | Deposit with monthly rent | Jeonse deposit | Contracts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seoul (서울특별시) | ₩900,000 | ₩100m | ₩650m | 7,386 |
| Daegu (대구광역시) | ₩750,000 | ₩20m | ₩253m | 1,959 |
| Incheon (인천광역시) | ₩750,000 | ₩30m | ₩295m | 2,689 |
| Jeju (제주특별자치도) | ₩640,000 | ₩5m | ₩270m | 275 |
| Busan (부산광역시) | ₩600,000 | ₩30m | ₩250m | 2,631 |
| Ulsan (울산광역시) | ₩600,000 | ₩20m | ₩260m | 562 |
| Gyeonggi (경기도) | ₩550,000 | ₩34m | ₩340m | 14,426 |
| Gangwon (강원특별자치도) | ₩550,000 | ₩10m | ₩200m | 1,217 |
| Daejeon (대전광역시) | ₩530,000 | ₩20m | ₩280m | 1,187 |
| North Gyeongsang (경상북도) | ₩500,000 | ₩10m | ₩174m | 1,073 |
| South Gyeongsang (경상남도) | ₩500,000 | ₩20m | ₩190m | 2,029 |
| South Chungcheong (충청남도) | ₩450,000 | ₩11m | ₩200m | 2,206 |
| Jeonnam-Gwangju (전남광주통합특별시) | ₩450,000 | ₩19m | ₩204m | 2,143 |
| North Chungcheong (충청북도) | ₩420,000 | ₩12m | ₩200m | 1,218 |
| Jeonbuk (전북특별자치도) | ₩400,000 | ₩20m | ₩190m | 883 |
| Sejong (세종특별자치시) | ₩280,000 | ₩20m | ₩280m | 1,161 |
New apartment leases of every size (every contract where an area has too few new leases). “Too few” means fewer than 10 contracts that month.
Median monthly rent on new apartment leases, all sizes. A longer bar means higher rent.
| Home type | Monthly rent | Deposit with monthly rent | Jeonse deposit | Typical size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment | ₩560,00026,193 new leasesAll contracts: ₩500,000 | ₩30m | ₩300m16,852 new leasesAll contracts: ₩300m | 59.5 m² |
| Officetel | ₩590,00011,550 new leasesAll contracts: ₩580,000 | ₩10m | ₩183m2,927 new leasesAll contracts: ₩197m | 27.1 m² |
| Villa or row house | ₩500,0009,011 new leasesAll contracts: ₩450,000 | ₩15m | ₩170m3,943 new leasesAll contracts: ₩187m | 36.4 m² |
Medians are for new leases, which is what a new tenant pays. They leave out likely public rentals. Renewals usually cost less, so the “All contracts” figure includes them for comparison. Typical size is the median exclusive floor area of the monthly-rent contracts. “Too few” means fewer than 10 contracts.
In Korea, new apartment jeonse deposits were about 73% of sale prices in the same buildings (July to September 2026).
The closer a deposit is to the home’s value, the less is left to repay it if prices fall or the landlord has other debts. Check the specific home before you pay.
Check a deposit’s safetyPer building: median new jeonse deposit per m² divided by median sale price per m². The figure is the middle value across 11,854 buildings with both (48,563 jeonse leases, 81,510 sales).
In Korea, the median renewal raised the rent or deposit by 5.0% (July to September 2026). In 73% of renewals the increase was 5% or less, and 24% had no increase.
When the tenant used the renewal right (계약갱신요구권), the increase was 5% or less in 85% of 35,555 renewals. When the tenant did not use it, the increase was 5% or less in 63% of 43,474 renewals.
Under the Housing Lease Protection Act (주택임대차보호법), a tenant can use the renewal right (계약갱신요구권) once. The renewed lease lasts 2 years. When the tenant uses the right, the rent or deposit can rise by 5% at most. A city or province can set a lower cap by ordinance (조례).
The 5% cap applies only during a lease that is still in effect, and to a renewal where the tenant uses the renewal right. If you and the landlord agree on a new rent without using the right, this is an agreed renewal (합의갱신). The increase can then be more than 5%. You can still use the renewal right later.
Based on 79,029 renewals of apartments, officetels and villas. Jeonse (전세) renewals are compared by deposit. Monthly-rent renewals are compared by rent, and only when the deposit did not change. Renewals where both changed are left out. The data is lease contracts reported to the government.
The housing price explorer lets you filter reported contracts by size, neighborhood and building.
These are reported contracts from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (국토교통부) open data APIs, as of 2026-11-05. Monthly rent (월세) and jeonse (전세) cover apartments, officetels, and villas or row houses. Sale prices cover apartments. Cancelled sales are excluded.
Contracts can be reported weeks after signing, so the newest month here is September 2026: the last month with at least 30 days of reports after it ended.
Headline medians use new leases only. About half of reported contracts are renewals. Renewals usually cost less than a new lease, so including them would understate what a new tenant pays. Headline medians also leave out contracts that look like public or subsidized rentals (LH, SH and youth housing): rent and deposit together under 40% of the area’s middle value per m² that month. The source does not mark these, so this is our estimate.
Each median mixes every size and building that was reported that month. A change from one month to the next can come from a different mix of homes, not a change in prices. These are past contracts, not homes you can rent today.