Summary:
- Seoul’s co-living supply has surged nearly 22-fold since 2017, driven by a rise in single-person households now comprising 40.5 percent of the city’s population, attracting major institutional investors like Morgan Stanley, CPP Investments, and GIC to develop and convert properties into co-living spaces across prime districts.
- Institutional investors are capitalizing on a shift away from Korea’s traditional jeonse rental system toward monthly rentals, fueled by rising interest rates, falling property prices, and changing demographics, with projects such as CPP’s 441-unit Mangrove Dangsan and Morgan Stanley’s Gwell Homes marking significant market entries.
- Government measures easing financing restrictions for rental housing operators aim to boost supply, but political sensitivities and regulatory complexity continue to deter domestic conglomerates, leaving foreign institutional investors to lead growth amid calls for clearer, more predictable policies to support long-term investment.
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