“Should I buy now, or just renew the jeonse?” That is the question in Korea’s 2026 property market.
Rather than offer a forecast, this article lays out the numbers that have actually been published. The Ministry of Land and Statistics Korea websites are unreachable from here, so the figures come from Korea Real Estate Board and KB data as reported by the realtors’ association publication — with the originating agency and reference date named each time. Anything unverified is flagged.
1. What the numbers say now. Week three of July 2026: nationwide sale prices +0.09%, Seoul +0.27% (76 straight weeks of gains). But the pace slowed from the week before.
2. What to watch out for. The figures here come from different sources with different reference dates — weekly prices are July 2026, while unsold-stock and transaction counts are December 2025. Do not read them as one series.
3. How to decide. Start from your own position, not a forecast — “Five things to check” below is that order. Prices refresh weekly, so open the source again right before you commit.
Right now: week three of July 2026
Korea Real Estate Board weekly survey, as at 20 July 2026:
“National apartment sale prices rose 0.09% from a week earlier”
“Seoul apartment prices rose 0.27%, continuing a 76-week run of increases”
“The rate of increase fell 0.03 percentage points from a week earlier (0.3%)”
“National apartment jeonse prices rose 0.11% from the previous week” · “Seoul jeonse rose 0.27%”
| Measure | National | Seoul |
|---|---|---|
| Sale prices (weekly) | +0.09% | +0.27% |
| Jeonse prices (weekly) | +0.11% | +0.27% |
| Seoul consecutive rises | 76 weeks | |
Note that in Seoul sale and jeonse prices are rising at the same rate. When jeonse rises too, the cost of “waiting it out in a lease” rises with it.
Monthly figures show a larger move
KB monthly survey, reference date 13 July 2026:
“Seoul apartment sale prices rose 1.05% from the previous month.”
“National apartment sale prices rose 0.41%, a second consecutive monthly rise after 0.33%”
“Gyeonggi apartment prices rose 0.87%, a wider increase than the previous month (0.65%)”
“Hwaseong Dongtan-gu (6.25%) recorded the highest rate of increase nationally”
“July Seoul apartment jeonse prices rose 1.34% month on month, easing slightly from 1.43%.”
The weekly and monthly series come from different bodies — Korea Real Estate Board and KB respectively. Their methods differ, so the numbers are not directly comparable.
Dongtan’s 6.25% is more than fifteen times the 0.41% national figure. The word “market” is doing a lot of work when the spread is that wide.
Next year’s Seoul jeonse: two gaps at once
The most important passage in this article. From July 2026 reporting:
“According to R114, Seoul apartment completions scheduled for next year total 18,475 units, just 56.5% of this year’s 32,703.”
“Zigbang’s count also puts next year’s Seoul completions at 16,412 units, down 48%.”
“According to the Korea Housing Lessors Association, registered rental apartments whose mandatory rental period expires in Seoul next year total 22,822 units — about six times this year’s 3,754.”
| Item | This year | Next year |
|---|---|---|
| Seoul completions (R114) | 32,703 | 18,475 (56.5%) |
| Seoul completions (Zigbang) | — | 16,412 (−48%) |
| Registered rentals expiring | 3,754 | 22,822 (about 6×) |
Completions halve while registered-rental expiries multiply sixfold — in the same year. If your lease expires next year, that is worth planning for now.
All three figures come from private-sector sources (R114, Zigbang, the lessors’ association), not public statistics. Second-half completions are reported as “around 20,000 units, close to three times the first half’s 6,974”, but with the industry expecting “limited stabilising effect on the jeonse market”.
Put the two figures on one axis and it becomes clear what “two gaps” means.
Transactions have actually fallen
Prices rising while volume falls. Ministry of Land transaction data, reported 20 July 2026:
“May Seoul apartment contracts totalled 8,739 (by contract date), the highest of the year.”
“June filings stood at 4,783 as at the 19th, about 54.7% of May”
“Gangdong-gu fell from 466 in May to 155 in June, down 66.7%” · “Yongsan-gu 54 last month against 153 in May, down 64.7%” · “Seocho-gu 154 so far in June against 386 in May, down 60.1%”
The headline reads “wait-and-see spreads ahead of tax reform” — buyers deferring while they wait to see what the rules become.
The June figure is filings as at the 19th. With a 30-day reporting window the final count rises, so comparing it straight against May overstates the drop.
The fall is uneven across districts. Here are the four figures set on one rate axis.
What changed in 2026
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Multi-home CGT surcharge waived | For disposals up to 9 May 2026 |
| Deemed rental income widened | Deposits of two-home owners above a ₩1.2bn published price (effective 1 Jan 2026) |
| Deemed rental calculation | Interest equivalent on 60% of the deposit above ₩300m |
| First-home acquisition tax relief | Population-decline area cap ₩2m → ₩3m |
The ₩1.2bn and ₩300m are different tests. The former is the published-price threshold for a high-value home; the latter is the portion of the deposit that becomes taxable. Conflating them changes the meaning entirely.
On supply: “the Capital Region Housing Supply Expansion Plan announced in May sets out plans to supply 41,000 non-apartment units by 2027 and 110,000 by 2030 in the capital region” (Ministry of Land, May 2026).
For the tax detail see the comprehensive real estate tax, capital gains tax and acquisition tax.
Five things to check
- Whether your lease expires next year — halved completions and sixfold expiries coincide.
- Look at your own area — 0.41% nationally, 6.25% in Dongtan. The average is not your situation.
- Check your borrowing ceiling first — the ₩600m capital-region cap and stage-three stress DSR both bind. See refinancing.
- Check the base rate — raised from 2.50% to 2.75% on 16 July 2026.
- If it is semi-jeonse, run the conversion rate — see negotiating the conversion rate.
If you are buying, see the apartment purchase process; if leasing, jeonse fraud prevention.
Questions people ask
How much unsold inventory is there nationally?
Now verified from the Ministry of Land's own housing statistics — noting that the reference date differs from the weekly prices above (July 2026). These are end-December 2025.
| Area | Unsold homes | Of which completed |
|---|---|---|
| Nationwide | 66,510 (down 3.3% from 68,794 a month earlier) | 28,641 (down 1.8% from 29,166) |
| Capital region | 15,883 | 4,243 |
| Outside the capital region | 50,627 | 24,398 |
| 76.1% of unsold homes, and 85.2% of completed unsold homes, sit outside the capital region (our calculation). The source gives the counts by region but not the shares. | ||
What about permits and construction starts?
Also verified from the source (cumulative to December 2025). On starts, the capital region and the rest of the country moved in opposite directions.
| Cumulative to December | Capital region | Seoul | Rest of country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permits | 222,704 (−4.9%) | 41,566 (−19.2%) | 157,130 (−21.9%) |
| Starts | 166,823 (+2.2%) | 32,119 (+23.2%) | 105,862 (−24.5%) |
| Pre-sales | 118,956 (−8.0%) | 12,654 (−53.3%) | 79,417 (−21.9%) |
| Completions | 165,708 (−13.5%) | 54,653 (+39.7%) | 15,335 (December, −45.4%) |
| Brackets are year-on-year changes as printed in the source. Seoul starts +23.2% and non-capital starts −24.5% happened in the same year — which reads as “the national housing market” not being one market (that reading is ours). | |||
Are transactions rising or falling?
In December 2025 there were 62,893 home sale transactions, up 2.4% on the previous month, and 254,149 lease transactions, up 22.2%. The source also lines up December volumes by year — 54,000 in 2021, 29,000 in 2022, 38,000 in 2023, 46,000 in 2024, 63,000 in 2025. December 2022 was the trough, and volumes have risen for three years since (that framing is ours).
Will prices rise or fall?
No forecast here. This article reports published figures only. What is verified: Seoul has risen 76 weeks running, the pace has eased recently, volume fell sharply from May, and Seoul completions halve next year.
Why do the weekly and monthly figures differ?
Different bodies and methods — Korea Real Estate Board weekly, KB monthly. The same period can produce different numbers.
How are non-apartment transactions doing?
“Non-apartment sales in May totalled 14,905, up 7.1% year on year. But against the five-year May average they were 28.6% lower” (Ministry of Land, reported July 2026).
Where to check further
- This week's numbers. The prices above are as of 20 July 2026, and the weekly survey refreshes every week. Korea Real Estate Board's weekly readings are carried by the realtors' association publication each week, and Ministry of Land statistics appear monthly in its press release list. Open them again before you sign.
- What actually traded in your district. These are national and Seoul-wide averages and will not match an individual complex. How volumes moved by district is in this report; for prices on a specific complex, the Ministry of Land's actual transaction price system is the accurate source.
- Work out the tax before the price. Acquisition tax comes first — on a ₩900 million home it ranges from ₩27 million to ₩108 million depending on how many homes you own. See the acquisition tax guide.
Sources and where to check
- Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport — Housing statistics for December 2025 (published 30 January 2026; checked August 2026). Fills the items this article had been carrying as “could not be verified.” Source for 66,510 unsold homes nationwide and 28,641 completed unsold, the regional split (capital region 15,883 with 4,243 completed; rest of country 50,627 with 24,398), the cumulative permits, starts, pre-sales and completions with year-on-year changes, 62,893 sale transactions and 254,149 lease transactions in December, and the December volumes by year (54,000 in 2021 to 63,000 in 2025). These figures are as at December 2025, a different reference date from the weekly prices earlier in the article (July 2026) — marked as such in the body.
- Korea Association of Realtors publication — Seoul apartment price growth eases (23 July 2026). Korea Real Estate Board weekly (as at 20 July 2026): national 0.09%, Seoul 0.27% and 76 weeks, jeonse 0.11% / 0.27%.
- Same publication — KB: July Seoul price growth eases slightly (27 July 2026). KB monthly (13 July 2026): Seoul 1.05%, national 0.41%, Gyeonggi 0.87%, Dongtan 6.25%, Seoul jeonse 1.34%.
- Same publication — a double supply gap in Seoul jeonse next year (21 July 2026). 18,475 (56.5%) · 16,412 (−48%) · 22,822 (about 6×) — all from private sources (R114, Zigbang, the lessors’ association).
- Same publication — wait-and-see spreads ahead of tax reform (20 July 2026). Ministry of Land transaction data: May 8,739, June 4,783 (as at the 19th, 54.7%), and the district falls.
- Same publication — 2026 property tax law changes (3 February 2026). Source of the 9 May 2026 deadline, the ₩1.2bn / ₩300m deemed-rental tests and the ₩2m → ₩3m relief cap.
- Same publication — a push on non-apartment supply (27 July 2026). Ministry of Land: 41,000 by 2027 / 110,000 by 2030 and May non-apartment sales of 14,905.
- Same publication — even the capital region fights unsold stock (10 June 2026). Ministry of Land: April Gyeonggi unsold 3,389.
Written as of July 2026. The weekly and monthly price changes, completions and registered-rental expiries, transaction volumes, the 2026 tax changes and the non-apartment supply plan all come from the sources above, and each figure was read at least twice with matching results. On the tax changes in particular, a first read produced the incorrect summary “deposits above ₩1.2bn are taxed”; a third read established that ₩1.2bn is the high-value-home published price and ₩300m is the taxable portion of the deposit — two different tests — and the text was corrected. Four things could not be verified: (1) national unsold inventory and completed-but-unsold stock (only Gyeonggi); (2) permits and construction starts; (3) anything from the Ministry of Land or Statistics Korea directly (both sites are unreachable, so every figure here is via secondary reporting); and (4) a public-agency alternative for the completions and registered-rental figures, which are private-sector data. Market figures change weekly and regional variation is large. This is not investment advice.
