In September 2026, the median monthly rent on a new apartment lease in Seoul was ₩900,000, with a median deposit of ₩100m, across 4,556 new leases. Counting renewals too, the median was ₩700,000.
Sorted from highest to lowest median monthly rent. Select an area for officetels, villas, sale prices and the monthly trend.
| Area | Monthly rent | Deposit with monthly rent | Jeonse deposit | Contracts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yongsan-gu (용산구) | ₩1,950,000 | ₩173m | ₩800m | 189 |
| Seongdong-gu (성동구) | ₩1,800,000 | ₩200m | ₩750m | 243 |
| Jung-gu (중구) | ₩1,600,000 | ₩100m | ₩650m | 129 |
| Seocho-gu (서초구) | ₩1,600,000 | ₩300m | ₩950m | 396 |
| Songpa-gu (송파구) | ₩1,600,000 | ₩300m | ₩810m | 530 |
| Gangnam-gu (강남구) | ₩1,500,000 | ₩200m | ₩900m | 576 |
| Mapo-gu (마포구) | ₩1,250,000 | ₩100m | ₩800m | 360 |
| Seodaemun-gu (서대문구) | ₩1,250,000 | ₩150m | ₩600m | 186 |
| Jongno-gu (종로구) | ₩1,170,000 | ₩20m | ₩600m | 97 |
| Yangcheon-gu (양천구) | ₩1,100,000 | ₩300m | ₩645m | 295 |
| Gwanak-gu (관악구) | ₩1,000,000 | ₩100m | ₩580m | 192 |
| Gangdong-gu (강동구) | ₩960,000 | ₩200m | ₩750m | 380 |
| Gangseo-gu (강서구) | ₩950,000 | ₩100m | ₩520m | 379 |
| Nowon-gu (노원구) | ₩950,000 | ₩50m | ₩340m | 491 |
| Seongbuk-gu (성북구) | ₩940,000 | ₩140m | ₩600m | 221 |
| Dobong-gu (도봉구) | ₩900,000 | ₩50m | ₩350m | 183 |
| Gangbuk-gu (강북구) | ₩845,000 | ₩35m | ₩470m | 109 |
| Yeongdeungpo-gu (영등포구) | ₩800,000 | ₩100m | ₩650m | 322 |
| Dongdaemun-gu (동대문구) | ₩770,000 | ₩100m | ₩630m | 212 |
| Eunpyeong-gu (은평구) | ₩690,000 | ₩100m | ₩565m | 238 |
| Gwangjin-gu (광진구) | ₩660,000 | ₩177m | ₩785m | 158 |
| Dongjak-gu (동작구) | ₩610,000 | ₩97m | ₩730m | 383 |
| Geumcheon-gu (금천구) | ₩555,000 | ₩80m | ₩405m | 180 |
| Guro-gu (구로구) | ₩500,000 | ₩50m | ₩400m | 347 |
| Jungnang-gu (중랑구) | ₩210,000 | ₩47m | ₩500m | 590 |
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 | ₩900,0004,556 new leasesAll contracts: ₩700,000 | ₩100m | ₩650m2,830 new leasesAll contracts: ₩588m | 50 m² |
| Officetel | ₩700,0003,459 new leasesAll contracts: ₩680,000 | ₩20m | ₩230m738 new leasesAll contracts: ₩240m | 24.2 m² |
| Villa or row house | ₩550,0003,809 new leasesAll contracts: ₩490,000 | ₩50m | ₩230m2,067 new leasesAll contracts: ₩230m | 31.5 m² |
| Detached or multi-family house(단독·다가구) | ₩500,0006,788 new leasesAll contracts: ₩500,000 | ₩10m | ₩130m937 new leasesAll contracts: ₩130m | 29.5 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.
House figures come from the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s rent contract data and cover Seoul only. Many of these leases are for one room or one floor of a multi-family house. The typical size is the area rented, not the whole house.
In Seoul, new apartment jeonse deposits were about 53% of sale prices in the same buildings (July to September 2026). Across Korea it was 73%.
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 1,919 buildings with both (8,412 jeonse leases, 9,324 sales).
In Seoul, the median renewal raised the rent or deposit by 5.0% (July to September 2026). In 67% of renewals the increase was 5% or less, and 17% had no increase.
When the tenant used the renewal right (계약갱신요구권), the increase was 5% or less in 77% of 12,981 renewals. When the tenant did not use it, the increase was 5% or less in 60% of 17,213 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 30,194 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.
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See jobs in SeoulThese 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.
Detached and multi-family house (단독·다가구) leases come from the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s rent contract data, which covers Seoul only. As with the other housing types, we count new leases only and leave out leases that are likely public rentals.
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.