Get all the data you need about the real estate market in Incheon
We update this blog post regularly so the data you see here always reflects the latest figures available.
Incheon sits just 30 kilometers from Seoul, has one of the busiest airports in the world, and is home to Songdo, one of Asia's most ambitious smart city projects.
Yet most rental investors still overlook it, focusing instead on Seoul, where purchase prices are more than double and yields are often below 3%.
And if you're planning to buy a property in Incheon, you may want to download our real estate database about Incheon.
A quick summary of the Incheon rental market
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Incheon neighborhood with best gross rental yield | Bupyeong-dong (up to 6.1% gross) |
| Incheon neighborhood with lowest gross rental yield | Songdo International City (2.8% gross) |
| Average gross rental yield across Incheon | ~4.3% |
| Average net rental yield across Incheon | ~2.9% |
| Median purchase price (all property types) | ~₩380 million |
| Average monthly rent across tracked neighborhoods | ~₩1,350,000 |
| Average occupancy rate across Incheon | ~88% |
| Fastest leasing market in Incheon | Bupyeong-dong (avg. 9 days) |
| Slowest leasing market in Incheon | Songdo (avg. 28 days) |
| Highest occupancy neighborhood in Incheon | Bupyeong-dong (93%) |
| Best value high-yield segment in Incheon | Studio officetels in Bupyeong and Juan-dong |
| Yield gap between cheapest and most expensive Incheon areas | ~3.3 percentage points (Bupyeong vs Songdo) |
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Incheon neighborhoods ranked by rental yield in 2026
This table ranks the top neighborhoods and property types in Incheon by gross rental yield.
For each neighborhood and property type, the table includes average purchase price, average monthly rent, gross rental yield, net rental yield, annual fees, average occupancy, average time to rent, main rental demand, main risk, and investment profile.
By the way, you'll find much more detailed data in our real estate database about Incheon.
| # | Neighborhood | Property type | Gross rental yield | Net rental yield | Average purchase price | Average monthly rent | Ownership annual fees | Average occupancy | Average time to rent | Main rental demand | Main risk | Rental Investment Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bupyeong-dong | Studio officetel | 6.1% | 4.0% | ₩195,000,000 | ₩990,000 | ₩4,200,000 | 93% | 9 days | Young professionals and service workers near Bupyeong Station | Officetel oversupply compressing rents in transit blocks | Top Pick |
| 2 | Bupyeong-dong | 1-bed apartment | 5.0% | 3.2% | ₩280,000,000 | ₩1,170,000 | ₩5,800,000 | 91% | 12 days | Commuters to Seoul seeking affordable metro access | Older building stock with rising maintenance costs | Strong Potential |
| 3 | Bupyeong-dong | 2-bed apartment | 4.2% | 2.7% | ₩390,000,000 | ₩1,370,000 | ₩7,200,000 | 89% | 15 days | Families and couples priced out of Songdo and Cheongna | Price appreciation slower than newer planned districts | Good Potential |
| 4 | Juan-dong | Studio officetel | 5.8% | 3.8% | ₩180,000,000 | ₩870,000 | ₩3,800,000 | 91% | 11 days | Budget renters and entry-level workers near Inha University | Ageing building stock with deferred maintenance | Strong Potential |
| 5 | Juan-dong | 1-bed apartment | 5.2% | 3.3% | ₩240,000,000 | ₩1,040,000 | ₩5,000,000 | 89% | 13 days | Inha University students and junior logistics workers | Neighborhood gentrification pace is slow and uncertain | Good Potential |
| 6 | Juan-dong | 2-bed apartment | 4.3% | 2.6% | ₩330,000,000 | ₩1,190,000 | ₩6,400,000 | 86% | 18 days | Working-class families seeking affordable space in Michuhol-gu | Low liquidity on resale in declining older districts | Moderate Appeal |
| 7 | Guwol-dong | Studio officetel | 5.6% | 3.6% | ₩210,000,000 | ₩980,000 | ₩4,400,000 | 90% | 11 days | Office workers near Namdong retail and business clusters | Officetel supply expanding faster than tenant growth | Strong Potential |
| 8 | Guwol-dong | 1-bed apartment | 5.0% | 3.2% | ₩310,000,000 | ₩1,290,000 | ₩6,000,000 | 90% | 12 days | Young dual-income couples near Namdong industrial zone | Mixed commercial zoning reduces residential quality | Good Potential |
| 9 | Guwol-dong | 2-bed apartment | 4.4% | 2.8% | ₩430,000,000 | ₩1,580,000 | ₩7,800,000 | 88% | 16 days | Families near established schools and Lotte Mart retail hub | Purchase prices rising faster than rent growth | Good Potential |
| 10 | Gyesan-dong | Studio apartment | 5.5% | 3.6% | ₩175,000,000 | ₩800,000 | ₩3,500,000 | 88% | 13 days | Budget commuters seeking Seoul access without Songdo prices | Limited amenity base slows tenant quality and stability | Good Potential |
| 11 | Gyesan-dong | 1-bed apartment | 5.0% | 3.1% | ₩250,000,000 | ₩1,040,000 | ₩5,200,000 | 87% | 15 days | Young families and first-time renters in Gyeyang-gu suburbs | Slower capital appreciation vs transit-connected districts | Good Potential |
| 12 | Gyesan-dong | 2-bed apartment | 4.3% | 2.6% | ₩340,000,000 | ₩1,220,000 | ₩6,200,000 | 85% | 19 days | Budget-conscious families seeking affordable suburban space | Weak resale liquidity in less-known Gyeyang-gu corridors | Moderate Appeal |
| 13 | Unseo-dong | Studio apartment | 5.4% | 3.3% | ₩190,000,000 | ₩855,000 | ₩3,900,000 | 86% | 14 days | Airport crew, airline staff, and cargo logistics workers | Demand tied entirely to airport operations and traffic | Good Potential |
| 14 | Unseo-dong | 1-bed apartment | 4.8% | 3.0% | ₩290,000,000 | ₩1,160,000 | ₩5,800,000 | 84% | 17 days | Long-stay business travelers and airport hotel workers | Island isolation limits tenant pool beyond airport workers | Moderate Appeal |
| 15 | Unseo-dong | 2-bed apartment | 4.1% | 2.5% | ₩390,000,000 | ₩1,330,000 | ₩7,200,000 | 81% | 23 days | Families of airport staff seeking Yeongjong Island residency | High vacancy risk if airport activity slows or declines | Moderate Appeal |
| 16 | Cheongna-dong | 1-bed apartment | 4.6% | 3.0% | ₩350,000,000 | ₩1,340,000 | ₩6,400,000 | 88% | 15 days | Young professionals drawn by Cheongna lake park lifestyle | Rapid price rises compressing yield for new buyers | Good Potential |
| 17 | Cheongna-dong | 2-bed apartment | 4.1% | 2.6% | ₩490,000,000 | ₩1,670,000 | ₩8,800,000 | 86% | 18 days | Families with children near Cheongna international schools | Supply overhang from rapid new tower completions in Seo-gu | Moderate Appeal |
| 18 | Cheongna-dong | 3-bed apartment | 3.6% | 2.2% | ₩680,000,000 | ₩2,040,000 | ₩11,400,000 | 82% | 24 days | Upper-middle-class families seeking Seo-gu's modern lifestyle | High purchase price relative to rent limits net return | Limited Appeal |
| 19 | Yeonsu-gu | Studio apartment | 4.5% | 2.9% | ₩260,000,000 | ₩975,000 | ₩5,400,000 | 87% | 14 days | Young professionals seeking Songdo proximity at lower cost | Sandwiched between Songdo premium and older district pricing | Good Potential |
| 20 | Yeonsu-gu | 1-bed apartment | 4.1% | 2.6% | ₩350,000,000 | ₩1,195,000 | ₩6,600,000 | 86% | 16 days | Families near Incheon Grand Park and local Korean schools | Lower yield than nearby Songdo despite similar prices | Moderate Appeal |
| 21 | Yeonsu-gu | 2-bed apartment | 3.7% | 2.2% | ₩480,000,000 | ₩1,480,000 | ₩8,600,000 | 84% | 20 days | Expat families near international schools in Yeonsu corridor | Rising prices with slow rent growth squeeze investor returns | Moderate Appeal |
| 22 | Jung-gu | Studio apartment | 4.4% | 2.8% | ₩220,000,000 | ₩808,000 | ₩4,600,000 | 85% | 16 days | Tourism and hospitality workers near Incheon old port area | Declining resident population as younger tenants move out | Moderate Appeal |
| 23 | Jung-gu | 1-bed villa unit | 4.1% | 2.5% | ₩270,000,000 | ₩924,000 | ₩5,600,000 | 82% | 20 days | Heritage tourism visitors and short-stay Chinatown visitors | Old building stock increases repair and compliance costs | Moderate Appeal |
| 24 | Jung-gu | 2-bed villa unit | 3.5% | 2.0% | ₩360,000,000 | ₩1,050,000 | ₩7,200,000 | 79% | 25 days | Lower-income families and elderly renters in older Incheon core | Population shrinkage in Jung-gu reduces long-term demand | Limited Appeal |
| 25 | Geomdan New Town | 1-bed apartment | 4.3% | 2.8% | ₩310,000,000 | ₩1,110,000 | ₩6,000,000 | 85% | 17 days | Young families attracted by new builds and affordable pricing | Infrastructure still incomplete; daily conveniences limited | Good Potential |
| 26 | Geomdan New Town | 2-bed apartment | 3.9% | 2.4% | ₩430,000,000 | ₩1,400,000 | ₩7,800,000 | 83% | 21 days | Families relocating from overcrowded Seoul suburbs | Tenant base still forming as new town matures slowly | Moderate Appeal |
| 27 | Geomdan New Town | 3-bed apartment | 3.6% | 2.1% | ₩580,000,000 | ₩1,740,000 | ₩10,200,000 | 81% | 25 days | Larger families seeking new construction with smart home features | Very early-stage liquidity and low resale transaction volume | Moderate Appeal |
| 28 | Songdo International City | 1-bed apartment | 3.4% | 2.1% | ₩520,000,000 | ₩1,473,000 | ₩10,200,000 | 87% | 18 days | Biotech and Samsung Biologics expats on corporate contracts | Premium purchase price compresses yield despite good rents | Moderate Appeal |
| 29 | Songdo International City | 2-bed apartment | 3.1% | 1.8% | ₩720,000,000 | ₩1,860,000 | ₩13,200,000 | 85% | 22 days | International families near Songdo Global Campus and schools | Oversupply from recent construction correcting 2023-2024 gains | Limited Appeal |
| 30 | Songdo International City | 3-bed apartment | 2.8% | 1.5% | ₩950,000,000 | ₩2,210,000 | ₩16,800,000 | 82% | 28 days | Senior executives and multinational families in Songdo towers | Very high condo fees and taxes erode already thin net yield | Limited Appeal |
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Key insights about Incheon rental yields
Insights
- Bupyeong studio officetels yield over 6%, more than double what Songdo 3-bed apartments deliver (2.8%). That gap of 3.3 percentage points is enormous in the same city.
- Songdo looks glamorous but performs poorly for rental income. Its net yields sit between 1.5% and 2.1%, meaning most of the rental income disappears into fees and taxes.
- In Incheon, gross and net yields can differ by 1.5 to 2 percentage points. Annual ownership costs in Songdo reach up to ₩16.8 million, versus ₩3.8 million in Juan-dong. This difference alone can change whether a purchase makes sense.
- Studios and small officetels consistently outperform larger units on yield across every Incheon neighborhood. This matches the nationwide rise in single-person households heading toward 9.24 million by 2050.
- Cheongna is rising fast in price but not in yield. Its 3-bed apartments yield only 3.6% gross, yet prices are already approaching ₩680 million. Buyers paying a "growth premium" today may wait years to see it.
- Bupyeong-dong rents in just 9 days on average, while Songdo 3-beds take 28 days. That 19-day gap means roughly 5% of annual rent is lost to vacancy in slower markets.
- Geomdan New Town looks affordable at ₩310-580 million, but yields of 3.6-4.3% reflect that rents have not yet caught up with prices. It may reward patient investors, but not those seeking immediate cash flow.
- Unseo-dong on Yeongjong Island has a structural weakness: its entire tenant pool depends on the airport. A single disruption in aviation activity can spike vacancy quickly, especially for 2-bed units sitting at 81% occupancy.
- Incheon's average gross yield of 4.3% compares favorably to Seoul's sub-3% average, at purchase prices that are 42% lower. The income-to-price ratio is meaningfully better even before accounting for fees.
- Rental prices in Incheon are growing at 3.8% year-on-year, the fastest rate in South Korea as of early 2026. That means current yield estimates could improve further over the next 12-24 months for early buyers.
- Jung-gu's shrinking population is a structural warning sign. Two-bed villa units there yield only 3.5% gross and sit at 79% occupancy. That combination of low yield and high vacancy makes it one of the weakest risk-adjusted options in this dataset.
- The foreign buyer restrictions introduced in August 2025 affect all of Incheon. Non-resident foreigners must intend to reside in any property they buy, which limits speculative buying and may reduce competition for local yield-focused investors.
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About our methodology
We also believe it is important to show our reasoning. It is one of the ways we make our work solid, transparent, and rigorous, just as you will see in our real estate database about Incheon.
First, please note that this data is updated regularly, so what you see here reflects the current values as of today.
In order to get reliable data, we applied a strict source filter. We only used authoritative, verifiable sources covering the Incheon and broader South Korean residential market, not random listings or unsupported figures. More on that point below.
For each Incheon neighborhood and property type, we then aggregated the freshest purchase price and monthly rent data available. When possible, we cross-checked multiple sources to confirm the same range.
Korea's residential market also has a specific rental structure. Many transactions use jeonse (a large deposit with no monthly rent) or wolse (a smaller deposit plus monthly rent). This article focuses on wolse-type monthly rent scenarios, which is the structure most relevant to yield-oriented investors in Incheon today, and the direction the market is shifting toward.
This allowed us to estimate rental yield before costs. That is the gross yield, based on annual rent versus purchase price.
We then estimated rental yield after costs. That is the net yield, after recurring ownership and operating expenses.
These expenses vary significantly by Incheon neighborhood. Songdo, for example, carries much higher management and maintenance fees than older areas like Bupyeong or Juan-dong. This is why two areas with similar rents can still produce very different net returns.
We also estimated ownership annual fees by combining the main recurring costs linked to each asset. This includes items such as property taxes, apartment management fees, insurance, and a maintenance allowance. In Korea, apartment management fees (gwanlibi) are a real and recurring cost that investors must account for, especially in newer high-rise complexes.
These estimates were not applied as one flat number across Incheon. They were adjusted by neighborhood and property type to better reflect local ownership conditions.
This table should therefore be read as a structured market estimate, not as an exact guarantee of future performance. Honesty, quality, and rigor are at the core of our work, and they are also what you will find in our real estate database about Incheon.
What sources have we used to write this article?
Whether it's in our blog articles or the market analyses included in our real estate database about Incheon, we rely on verifiable sources and a transparent methodology.
We also aim to be fully transparent, so below we've listed the authoritative sources we used, and explained how we used them and the methods behind our estimates.
| Source | Why it's authoritative | How we used it |
|---|---|---|
| Korea Real Estate Board (REB) | It is South Korea's official government-mandated body for real estate price surveys, transaction indexes, and rental market statistics. | We used REB's National Survey of House Price Trends to benchmark apartment and officetel price movements across Incheon's districts. We also referenced the Multi-Family House Actual Transaction Price Index to calibrate purchase price estimates by neighborhood and unit size. |
| KB Real Estate (KB Kookmin Bank) | KB Real Estate is South Korea's largest private real estate data provider, widely cited by the central bank, government agencies, and major research institutions. | We cross-referenced KB's monthly rent indices and apartment price data to validate price-per-square-meter estimates for Incheon neighborhoods including Songdo, Bupyeong, and Namdong-gu. We also used KB data to estimate the gross-to-net yield gap by factoring in management and insurance cost norms. |
| Global Property Guide | Global Property Guide is a widely referenced international property research platform that compiles transaction and yield data from local official sources across dozens of countries. | We used Global Property Guide to cross-check average gross rental yield levels for South Korea and the Incheon metropolitan area relative to Seoul and other regions. We triangulated their yield estimates against REB and KB data to ensure our neighborhood-level figures stayed within verified national ranges. |
| Bank of Korea (BOK) | The Bank of Korea is the country's central bank and publishes authoritative macroeconomic data including mortgage rates, inflation, and housing finance conditions. | We used BOK data to understand the financing environment for Incheon property buyers, particularly the weighted average mortgage rate of around 3.96% as of late 2025. We factored this into our assessment of net yield attractiveness relative to financing costs. |
| Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) | MOLIT is the South Korean government ministry responsible for housing policy, real estate transaction reporting, and land use regulation, making it a primary official data source. | We referenced MOLIT's transaction reporting framework to understand how real estate sales data flows into the Korean system, and used policy announcements from MOLIT regarding foreign buyer restrictions and new housing supply programs as context for our risk assessments. We also drew on MOLIT's guidance to understand ownership fee structures including acquisition taxes. |
| International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook | The IMF is one of the world's most authoritative macroeconomic monitoring institutions, and its South Korea projections are used as baselines by institutional investors and central banks. | We used the IMF's 2026 GDP growth projection of 1.8% for South Korea to contextualize the broader economic environment for Incheon property investment. We also referenced IMF inflation forecasts around 1.9% for 2026 to assess whether real rental yields remain attractive after accounting for price changes. |
| Mordor Intelligence - South Korea Residential Real Estate Report | Mordor Intelligence is a recognized market research firm that publishes sector reports updated with official Korean real estate data and publicly verified industry figures. | We used this report to verify market-wide figures including Seoul vs Incheon yield divergence and the scale of the Korean build-to-rent housing supply program. We cross-referenced the report's reference to Incheon and Gyeonggi co-development pipeline as context for supply-side risks in specific neighborhoods. |
| OECD Economic Surveys: Korea | The OECD publishes peer-reviewed economic assessments for South Korea on a regular basis, drawing on official government data and independent economic analysis. | We referenced the OECD's GDP and economic outlook for South Korea to assess the macro environment supporting rental demand in Incheon. We also used OECD housing affordability and urban concentration data to understand why Incheon continues to attract tenants priced out of the Seoul core. |
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