As apartment jeonse (lump-sum deposit leases) listings tighten in Seoul’s top school districts, more families are turning to villas — low-rise multi-family and row-house homes — in areas such as Mok-dong and Daechi-dong.
Data from the Transport Ministry’s real estate transaction disclosure system showed that villa purchases and new lease contracts rose ahead of the new school term in key education hubs including Mok-dong, Daechi-dong and Junggye-dong in Nowon District.
In Mok-dong, a major private academy area, villa sales totaled 400 as of the reporting date, with 347 deals concentrated from January through March. That was up 82.6% from 190 in the same period a year earlier.
New jeonse and monthly-rent contracts also increased. The total reached 534 as of the reporting date, with 453 signed from January through March. That was an 11.0% rise from 408 a year earlier, suggesting school-term demand lifted both sales and rentals.
Daechi-dong in Gangnam District and Junggye-dong showed similar patterns. In Daechi-dong, jeonse and monthly-rent transactions rose 7.8% to 250 in January-March from 232 a year earlier; the cumulative total was 277 as of the reporting date. Villa sales in January-March came to 23, up 35.3% from 17 a year earlier, with 28 sales recorded in total.
In Junggye-dong, January-March sales jumped to 16 from seven a year earlier, a 128.6% increase; the cumulative total was 17. New lease contracts totaled 33 as of the reporting date, with no transactions recorded in April. That was more than triple the 10 contracts in the same period last year.
The villa market in school districts began to warm after March last year, when the Gangnam three districts and Yongsan District were designated land transaction permit zones, adding owner-occupancy requirements. In Daechi-dong, row-house and multi-family sales rose from 17 in 2023 to 29 in 2024 and 90 in 2025.
The trend continued through tighter lending rules and an expansion of regulated areas last year, and analysts said worsening lockups in jeonse supply further boosted villa demand. In Daechi-dong, row-house and multi-family sales in the second half of last year (58) were nearly double the first half (32).
Rising apartment prices in school districts also pushed demand toward villas. Apartment sale prices in the Gangnam three districts rose about 6%, or 2.6 times Seoul’s overall average increase of 2.29%.
The apartment rental market has tightened as multi-home owners put properties up for sale, reducing lease supply, while more tenants renew existing contracts, creating a chain reaction of shortages. According to the real estate platform Asil, Mok-dong jeonse and monthly-rent listings have been declining, and the market says the supply crunch is being felt.
Jin Chang-ha, a professor in Hanyang University’s economics department and president of the Korea Housing Association, said the shift reflects structural change as investment-driven ownership declines and owner-occupancy rises amid tighter rules. “With moves to regulate loan maturities on top of restrictions on non-resident single-home owners and new jeonse loan guarantee rules, the market structure is being reshaped, leading to a structural transition,” he said.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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