Get all the data you need about the real estate market in Daegu
SUMMARY
Rent in Daegu remains relatively affordable for a major Korean city: roughly ₩450,000–₩650,000 a month is a practical budget for one person, while a modern family apartment usually requires around ₩900,000–₩1.5 million.
The citywide average hides a huge contract-structure problem. A renter paying ₩500,000 with a ₩10 million deposit and someone paying ₩1 million with a much smaller deposit are not necessarily renting radically different homes.
For solo renters, the market still works around the ₩500,000 level. University one-rooms can fall into the ₩250,000–₩500,000 range, while the broader officetel market sits around the mid-₩500,000s.
Management fees are big enough to distort cheap-looking listings. Around university areas, roughly ₩80,000 in monthly building charges can turn a ₩400,000 room into something much closer to ₩500,000 before personal utilities.
The biggest geographical premium is Suseong-gu. Its officetel rents are roughly one-third above the citywide level, while newer family apartments there regularly reach ₩1.2–₩1.55 million a month.
Dalseo-gu remains the obvious middle ground for families. It still has conventional apartment stock below ₩1 million a month, yet its better modern complexes can cross that threshold without reaching premium Suseong pricing.
The unusual part of Daegu today is the split between buying and renting. Sale listings remain abundant and sale prices have been weak, but monthly-rent and jeonse listings have fallen much more sharply.
That shortage is beginning to show in official rent data. Daegu's monthly-rent index has been climbing steadily, and officetel rents have recorded several consecutive quarterly increases rather than one isolated jump.
The supply story has also flipped. Daegu absorbed an enormous apartment-completion wave only a few years ago, but the forthcoming completion pipeline is now dramatically smaller.
So cheap housing has not disappeared, but tenants have less bargaining power than they did during the oversupply years. Anyone assuming rents must fall simply because purchase prices are weak is looking at the wrong side of the market.
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How much is rent in Daegu now?
Rent in Daegu currently ranges from roughly ₩350,000–₩600,000 a month for many small apartments and officetels to around ₩800,000–₩1.5 million for a decent family apartment, depending heavily on the deposit and neighborhood.
That range is wide because Daegu has several rental markets operating at once. Ministry of Land transaction data compiled across 26,000-plus officetel contracts puts the citywide average at about ₩540,000 a month with a ₩16.9 million deposit. Around the main universities, small rooms can still fall around ₩250,000–₩500,000 with a standardized ₩10 million deposit. A full-size apartment in Dalseo-gu, Dong-gu, Jung-gu or Suseong-gu can easily cost more than ₩1 million a month.
Daegu rents are also moving up. Korea Real Estate Board data shows the city's monthly-rent index rising steadily through the latest reported months, while the number of advertised monthly-rent homes has dropped by more than half in a year. Cheap housing still exists, but the easiest deals are getting harder to find.
| Daegu rental segment | Typical deposit | Monthly rent now | What this usually gets you |
|---|---|---|---|
| University-area small room | ~₩10m | ₩250k–₩500k | Small studio or one-room |
| Typical officetel | ~₩17m | ~₩540k | Small modern urban unit |
| Cheaper family apartment | ₩10m–₩20m | ₩600k–₩850k | Mostly outer Daegu |
| Mainstream modern apartment | ₩20m–₩30m | ₩900k–₩1.3m | Dalseo, Dong-gu, central areas |
| Better Suseong apartment | ₩30m–₩50m | ₩1.2m–₩1.5m+ | Newer or better-located family stock |
Why is it so hard to give one average rent for Daegu?
A single Daegu rent figure hides too much because Korean tenants constantly trade a larger deposit for a lower monthly payment.
Two households can rent similar homes and pay completely different monthly amounts. One might put down ₩20 million and pay ₩1.2 million every month. Another could put several hundred million won into a jeonse deposit and pay almost no monthly rent.
Housing type adds another layer. A university one-room, an officetel beside a subway station and a 110 m² family apartment in Suseong-gu belong to very different markets.
The citywide officetel average of about ₩540,000 is a useful reference for a single person looking at smaller homes, but it tells us very little about what a family needs to spend.
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What does a one-room apartment cost in Daegu today?
A normal Daegu one-room currently costs about ₩350,000–₩600,000 a month, while older student housing can still come in below that.
Recent Dabang research around Daegu's main university areas found small homes of up to 33 m² around ₩250,000–₩500,000 a month when the deposit was standardized at ₩10 million. The better rooms disappear quickly, so the lowest advertised figure should not be treated as the normal price for a good unit.
The broader officetel market gives us another reference. Recent Ministry of Land rental transactions put the citywide average around ₩540,000 a month. That makes ₩500,000 a realistic starting point for someone renting alone in Daegu.
Management fees can change the picture quite a bit. The same university-area research found average management fees around ₩81,000. A room advertised at ₩400,000 can therefore move close to ₩500,000 before electricity, gas and other personal utilities are added.
How much does a Daegu officetel cost to rent now?
A Daegu officetel averages about ₩540,000 a month with a deposit close to ₩16.9 million.
This figure comes from more than 26,000 rental contracts reported to the Ministry of Land across 342 officetel buildings, so it gives us a much stronger benchmark than a small sample of listings.
Location changes the price sharply. Suseong-gu averages around ₩720,000, while Dalseo-gu is close to ₩580,000 and Jung-gu around ₩550,000. Buk-gu sits near ₩500,000. Dong-gu and Dalseong-gun are cheaper at roughly ₩450,000 and ₩430,000.
The difference between Suseong-gu and Dalseong-gun is close to ₩290,000 a month, or almost ₩3.5 million a year before we even adjust for different deposits.
| Area | Reported contracts | Average deposit | Average monthly rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suseong-gu | 3,879 | ₩22.5m | ₩720k |
| Dalseo-gu | 2,946 | ₩18.0m | ₩580k |
| Jung-gu | 6,138 | ₩13.9m | ₩550k |
| Buk-gu | 4,397 | ₩15.9m | ₩500k |
| Nam-gu | 1,690 | ₩31.2m | ₩490k |
| Dong-gu | 5,493 | ₩11.6m | ₩450k |
| Dalseong-gun | 1,637 | ₩17.3m | ₩430k |
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Is Suseong-gu really that much more expensive to rent?
Yes. Suseong-gu is the clearest premium rental market in Daegu, especially for newer family apartments and officetels.
The officetel data already shows it. Average monthly rent is roughly ₩720,000 in Suseong-gu against ₩540,000 citywide, a premium of about one-third.
Family apartments make the gap more obvious. KB Real Estate puts a three-bedroom unit at Suseong Lake Prugio, a relatively new complex in Dusan-dong, at about ₩50 million down and ₩1.4–₩1.5 million a month. Suseong Taeyoung Desian, in Suseong-dong, sits around ₩30 million plus ₩1.45–₩1.55 million.
Suseong Lotte Castle The First offers another useful benchmark. KB's latest range is roughly ₩30 million down and ₩1.2–₩1.4 million monthly.
Older buildings can still be much cheaper. Daegu Siji Prugio, for example, is around ₩20 million plus ₩900,000–₩950,000. Building age and exact location still matter a lot inside Suseong-gu itself.
How much does a family apartment cost in Daegu now?
A realistic budget for a proper family apartment in Daegu today is roughly ₩800,000–₩1.5 million a month, although outer districts still offer some homes around ₩600,000–₩800,000.
Recent KB Real Estate figures show how wide the market has become. Seongdang-dong The Sharp in Dalseo-gu is around ₩20 million down and ₩750,000–₩830,000 a month. Daegu Wolbae Taeyoung Desian, also in Dalseo-gu, is closer to ₩20 million plus ₩1.0–₩1.05 million.
Move toward central Daegu and the monthly bill rises. Daegu Station Central Xi in Jung-gu sits around ₩20 million down and ₩1.15–₩1.3 million a month. Premium Suseong examples reach roughly ₩1.4–₩1.55 million.
Around ₩800,000 can work for an older or less central apartment. Around ₩1 million opens much more mainstream family stock. A budget of ₩1.3–₩1.5 million brings newer and better-located complexes into play.
| Example apartment | Area | Approx. deposit | Monthly rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seongdang-dong The Sharp | Dalseo-gu | ₩20m | ₩750k–₩830k |
| Daegu Siji Prugio | Suseong-gu | ₩20m | ₩900k–₩950k |
| Daegu Wolbae Taeyoung Desian | Dalseo-gu | ₩20m | ₩1.0m–₩1.05m |
| Daegu Station Central Xi | Jung-gu | ₩20m | ₩1.15m–₩1.3m |
| Suseong Lotte Castle The First | Suseong-gu | ₩30m | ₩1.2m–₩1.4m |
| Suseong Lake Prugio | Suseong-gu | ₩50m | ₩1.4m–₩1.5m |
| Suseong Taeyoung Desian | Suseong-gu | ₩30m | ₩1.45m–₩1.55m |
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Can a family still rent in Daegu for less than ₩1 million a month?
Yes. A family can still rent for under ₩1 million a month in Daegu, but location and building age become much more important at that budget.
Dalseo-gu gives us a good example. Seongdang-dong The Sharp is around ₩20 million down and ₩750,000–₩830,000 monthly. This is a 904-unit apartment complex rather than student housing or a tiny officetel.
Even Suseong-gu has older stock close to the ₩1 million line. Daegu Siji Prugio, completed about two decades ago, carries a KB monthly-rent range around ₩900,000–₩950,000 with ₩20 million deposited.
The trade-off gets pretty obvious beside newer Suseong apartments at ₩1.4 million or more. Paying an extra ₩500,000 every month adds ₩6 million a year to the housing bill. For renters who care more about space than prestige or building age, older Daegu apartments can be unusually good value.
What does a ₩500,000 monthly rent budget buy in Daegu?
A ₩500,000 budget still works well for a single renter in Daegu, especially in Dong-gu, Buk-gu, Dalseong-gun and university neighborhoods.
The citywide officetel average is only slightly higher at approximately ₩540,000. Dong-gu averages around ₩450,000, Dalseong-gun around ₩430,000 and Buk-gu almost exactly ₩500,000.
Student areas stretch the money further. Dabang's recent university-area figures put many small rooms between ₩250,000 and ₩500,000 at a ₩10 million deposit.
A renter with exactly ₩500,000 should still leave room for management fees. Paying ₩450,000 rent plus ₩80,000–₩100,000 in building charges already pushes housing expenditure beyond the headline budget before utilities.
For a family, ₩500,000 is much harder. Conventional multi-bedroom apartments under that level exist, but they tend to involve larger deposits, older housing or less convenient locations.
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How cheap are rooms near Daegu's universities these days?
Daegu's university neighborhoods remain among the cheapest parts of the city's private rental market, with many small rooms around ₩250,000–₩500,000 a month.
Dabang recently compared small rental homes around the city's main universities using the same ₩10 million deposit, making the figures more useful than listings with wildly different deposits. The cheapest end stayed close to ₩250,000, while better or more popular rooms climbed toward ₩500,000.
The main catch is the real monthly bill. Average management fees in that research were around ₩81,000. Electricity, gas and other charges then come on top.
A ₩300,000 room can therefore cost well above ₩400,000 in practice, while a ₩450,000 room can move past ₩550,000. For students comparing Daegu rentals, the all-in figure is much more useful than the number written at the top of the listing.
| Student housing cost | Lower-cost room | Better room | What we would budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit | ~₩10m | ~₩10m+ | Depends on contract |
| Advertised rent | ₩250k–₩350k | ₩400k–₩500k | Main monthly payment |
| Management fee | ~₩80k | ~₩80k+ | Often unavoidable |
| Utilities | Variable | Variable | Higher during heavy heating/cooling |
| Likely all-in monthly cost | ~₩380k–₩500k | ~₩500k–₩650k+ | Better comparison for budgeting |
Is Dalseo-gu still cheaper than Suseong-gu?
Yes. Dalseo-gu is still noticeably cheaper than Suseong-gu for most renters, although the best Dalseo apartments can now cost more than ₩1 million a month.
The easiest comparison comes from officetels. Dalseo-gu averages roughly ₩580,000 monthly against about ₩720,000 in Suseong-gu. Renting in Suseong therefore costs around ₩140,000 more each month on average in that segment.
Family apartments show a similar hierarchy. Seongdang-dong The Sharp in Dalseo-gu is around ₩750,000–₩830,000. Daegu Wolbae Taeyoung Desian is around ₩1.0–₩1.05 million. Better Suseong complexes regularly sit between ₩1.2 million and ₩1.55 million.
Dalseo-gu itself also varies substantially. Newer complexes around popular subway stops and commercial areas can command prices much closer to central Daegu, while older stock offers much better value.
For renters who want a normal family apartment without paying Suseong prices, Dalseo remains one of the easiest places to start searching.
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Should renters choose monthly rent or jeonse in Daegu?
Renters with a large amount of cash should still compare Daegu wolse with jeonse, because several hundred million won of extra deposit can remove more than ₩1 million from the monthly bill.
Consider a family apartment valued around ₩300 million for jeonse. A wolse contract on a similar home might require only ₩20 million–₩30 million upfront but charge around ₩1 million–₩1.3 million every month.
The tenant is effectively choosing between liquidity and monthly cash flow. Adding ₩280 million to a deposit to avoid ₩1.1 million of rent saves ₩13.2 million a year. That is equivalent to roughly 4.7% of the additional capital before taxes, financing costs and deposit risk.
The calculation looks less attractive if the tenant has to borrow the extra deposit at a high interest rate. It looks more attractive for someone already holding a large amount of cash that earns little elsewhere.
Daegu's officetel jeonse-to-wolse conversion rate has recently been close to 7%, according to Korea Real Estate Board data. That's high enough that the deposit-versus-rent calculation deserves real attention rather than automatically choosing whichever contract has the lowest upfront payment.
Are Daegu rents actually rising right now?
Yes. Daegu rents are moving higher, and the latest official numbers show a steady climb rather than a one-month jump.
Korea Real Estate Board data puts Daegu's monthly-rent index at 100.14 in the latest published reading, up from 99.30 a year earlier. The index moved through 99.44, 99.55, 99.70, 99.83, 99.91 and 100.00 before reaching 100.14.
That is a fairly slow increase in percentage terms, so Daegu is hardly a runaway rental market. The direction, though, has become unusually consistent.
Officetels support the same conclusion from a different dataset. Korea Real Estate Board figures for the second quarter showed Daegu officetel monthly rents up 0.13% quarter on quarter, marking a third consecutive quarterly increase. The survey's average monthly officetel rent was about ₩578,000.
Daegu tenants are dealing with modest but persistent rent inflation.
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Why are Daegu rents rising while home prices are still weak?
Daegu rents are rising because rental homes have become much scarcer even though the city still has plenty of properties for sale.
The numbers are unusually clear. Recent local market data showed only about 2,370 monthly-rent listings across Daegu, down from roughly 4,890 a year earlier. That is a 51.6% drop. Jeonse listings fell 48.9%, from about 8,960 to 4,581.
Homes for sale barely changed by comparison. Sale listings went from 41,612 to 40,186, a decline of just 3.4%.
Price indices followed the same split. Over the comparable period, Daegu's monthly-rent index rose from 99.30 to 100.14 and the jeonse index moved from 99.31 to 100.07. The sale-price index went the other way, falling from 101.66 to 99.91.
Daegu has ended up with a strange-looking market: renters have fewer homes to choose from while buyers still face a large pool of properties for sale.
| Daegu market indicator | Earlier level | Latest level | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly-rent listings | 4,890 | 2,370 | -51.6% |
| Jeonse listings | 8,960 | 4,581 | -48.9% |
| Sale listings | 41,612 | 40,186 | -3.4% |
| Monthly-rent index | 99.30 | 100.14 | +0.84 points |
| Jeonse index | 99.31 | 100.07 | +0.76 points |
| Sale-price index | 101.66 | 99.91 | -1.75 points |
Could Daegu rents keep rising from here?
Daegu rents have a good chance of staying firm because the city's supply pipeline has suddenly become very thin, although that does not guarantee a sharp rent surge.
Daegu went through years of heavy apartment construction. More than 30,000 homes were completed during the 2023 peak according to local housing-market research, helping create the oversupply that pushed property prices down.
The cycle has now swung hard in the other direction. Korea Real Estate Board and Real Estate R114 data released recently puts Daegu's expected completions at just 5,377 homes from the second half of this year through the first half of 2028. Only 729 are scheduled for the current half-year period, followed by 2,846 during 2027 and 1,802 in the first half of 2028.
Another recent Zigbang estimate found no Daegu apartment completions at all during one of the coming months. Different providers use slightly different completion schedules, but the broad picture is the same: the huge wave of new apartments is ending quickly.
That supply drop has already coincided with shrinking rental listings and rising rent indices. Unless rental inventory rebuilds, tenants are unlikely to regain the bargaining power they had during Daegu's oversupply years.
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How much should you budget to rent in Daegu today?
For a practical Daegu search today, we would budget about ₩450,000–₩650,000 a month for one person, ₩600,000–₩900,000 for a couple wanting more space, and roughly ₩900,000–₩1.5 million for a modern family apartment.
A solo renter with around ₩500,000 can still search a large part of Dong-gu, Buk-gu, Dalseong-gun and the university market. Moving toward ₩600,000 opens much more of the officetel stock.
Couples around ₩700,000–₩900,000 can start looking at larger homes and older family apartments rather than limiting themselves to studios.
Families get the biggest jump in choice around ₩1 million. Recent KB figures show conventional apartments in Dalseo around ₩750,000–₩1.05 million, central Jung-gu around ₩1.15–₩1.3 million and stronger Suseong complexes around ₩1.2–₩1.55 million.
Those budgets exclude management fees and assume deposits commonly ranging from ₩10 million to ₩50 million. Tenants willing to put down substantially more cash can negotiate the monthly payment lower.
So, how much is rent in Daegu now?
Daegu is still affordable by big-city Korean standards, and a good rule of thumb today is roughly ₩500,000 for a solo renter and around ₩1 million–₩1.5 million for a decent modern family apartment.
Small rooms can still fall into the ₩250,000–₩400,000 range, especially around universities, while the citywide officetel average sits around ₩540,000. Dalseo and outer Daegu offer plenty of family housing below premium Suseong prices. Newer apartments in Suseong-gu and central Daegu can already reach ₩1.3–₩1.55 million a month.
The direction of the market is increasingly important. Daegu's official monthly-rent index has been climbing, officetel rents have risen for three quarters in a row, and monthly-rental listings are down more than 50% from a year earlier. At the same time, the next wave of apartment completions is much smaller than the enormous supply Daegu absorbed a few years ago.
For renters, Daegu is still reasonably priced but clearly tighter. Someone expecting rents to fall simply because apartment sale prices remain weak is now betting against the most recent rental data.
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OUR METHODOLOGY
To answer how much rent costs in Daegu, we broke the market into the things that actually change what a tenant pays: housing type, district, deposit structure and renter profile. We then looked at current rental momentum, listing inventory and the apartment-completion pipeline so the answer would reflect both today's prices and the direction of the market.
Reported rental transactions and official market indices formed the core of the analysis. Ministry of Land transaction data was used to benchmark actual apartment and officetel contracts, while Korea Real Estate Board data was used to track monthly-rent, jeonse and officetel rental trends. KOSIS provided an additional official check on regional housing indicators.
We used Dabang for the university-area and small-home segment, including management-fee comparisons, and Asil to examine changes in the number of homes advertised for sale, jeonse and monthly rent. These sources help show what tenants are seeing in the live market rather than relying only on aggregate price indices.
Property-level benchmarks from KB Real Estate were used to translate city and district averages into practical family-rental ranges. The complexes reviewed included Seongdang-dong The Sharp, Daegu Wolbae Taeyoung Desian, Daegu Station Central Xi, Daegu Siji Prugio, Suseong Lotte Castle The First, Suseong Lake Prugio and Suseong Taeyoung Desian.
Deposit structures were treated separately wherever possible. A Korean monthly-rent figure can be misleading without the accompanying deposit, so we avoided comparing rents as though a ₩10 million deposit and a ₩50 million deposit represented the same contract.
For the supply outlook, we used Korea Real Estate Board and Real Estate R114 completion estimates, with recent reporting from News1 used to check the latest Daegu figures. We treated those schedules as an indication of supply direction rather than an exact forecast of future rents.
Key sources include: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport transaction data, Korea Real Estate Board's housing price index report, Korea Real Estate Board's officetel price trend survey, KOSIS regional housing indicators, Dabang, Asil listing inventory data, KB Real Estate, Korea Real Estate Board / Real Estate R114 supply research, and News1's report on the latest Daegu completion pipeline.
Buying real estate in Daegu can be risky
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