Monthly rental contracts surpassed 40 percent of all apartment transactions in Seoul for the first time this year.

According to data by the capital city's real estate information website, as of December, of the total 208-thousand monthly and long-term jeonse transactions for apartments in Seoul, 41-point-seven percent or some 87-thousand contracts were for monthly rentals.

The ratio marks the largest since the nation began to publish related data in 2010.

The figure rose from 31-point-four percent in 2020 to 38-point-five percent in 2021 and exceeded 40 percent for the first time this year.

The rise in monthly lease contracts is attributed to continued rate hikes, which are imposing financial burdens on those seeking to lease apartments through jeonse, which is a housing rental system under which tenants put up a lump-sum deposit without paying monthly rent and get the full amount of the deposit back at the end of the contract.