Transactions Down, Leading Supply Indicators Improve... Seoul Apartment Transactions Down 30%, Permits Up 40%

[Financial News] Seoul apartment transactions fell by more than 30% in August from the previous month. Although jeonse and monthly-rent transactions also declined, housing permits and starts in Seoul rose by more than 40% from a year earlier, showing divergent trends between leading supply indicators and transaction indicators.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) on the 30th, Seoul's housing sales transactions totaled 7,884 in August, down 27.3% month on month. The figure was up 8.1% from the same month last year but 1.6% below the average for August over the past five years.
Seoul apartment transactions fell more sharply than transactions for all homes. The August total was 4,589, down 30.1% from 6,564 in July.
Seoul's jeonse and monthly-rent transactions totaled 64,332, comprising 17,921 jeonse transactions and 46,411 monthly-rent transactions. Of these, apartment jeonse and monthly-rent transactions totaled 19,871, down 11.7% from the previous month.
Despite the decline in transactions, the share of monthly rent in Seoul's rental market increased. On a cumulative basis from January through August, monthly rent accounted for 60.0% of Seoul's jeonse and monthly-rent transactions in 2024, 64.1% in 2025, and 69.9% this year.
By contrast, permits and housing starts, which are leading supply indicators, increased. Seoul issued permits for 39,940 housing units from January through August this year, up 40.4% from the same period last year.
August permits totaled 11,306 units, accounting for 28.3% of the cumulative total this year. This was attributed to the roughly 6,000-unit Eunma Apartments in Daechi, Gangnam-gu, receiving permit approval in July, with the project reflected in the August statistics.
Cumulative housing starts in Seoul also rose 41.1% year on year to 20,679 units. Housing supply totaled 15,962 units, up 78.5%. However, completions totaled 25,630 units, down 21.6% from the same period last year.
Jang Woo-cheol, MOLIT's Director General for Housing Policy, attributed the increase in permits to regulatory easing and recovering demand. He analyzed, "Starting with the May 22 agreement to purchase newly built homes and continuing through the Aug. 13 supply measures, urban construction regulations were eased. Another factor was the tax and financial package, which revived demand; businesses judged that the conditions were in place and actively pursued permits."
He added, "I expect the current instability in jeonse, monthly-rent, and home sale prices to gradually stabilize over time, with a time lag." 

[email protected] Choi Ga-young Reporter