South Korea's home rental transactions surged 16.7 percent on-month in October mainly due to a seasonal increase in demand, the government said Thursday.

In the one-month period, the number of home rental transactions reached 122,617 units, up from 105,038 units in September, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said.

Compared with a year earlier, monthly transactions fell 6.8 percent from 131,595 units.

Data showed that in the 10 months of this year, transaction numbers edged up 0.3 percent on-year to 1,238,819 units.

"There is usually a rise in people moving in the fall months, including October, that causes rental transactions to rise," a ministry official said.

Data showed transactions going up nationwide, with numbers for Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and Incheon advancing 16.5 percent to 81,842 units.

Of all transactions reported, 43.9 percent, or 53,833, were monthly rent arrangements, with jeonse accounting for the rest at 68,784.

The number of jeonse leases dropped 15.7 percent on-year, while monthly rent rose 7.8 percent.

Jeonse is a unique South Korean rental system where the tenant gives the homeowner a lump sum of money to lease a home without paying rent. This money is then returned after the lease expires.

There has been a move by homeowners in recent years to switch from jeonse to monthly rent, mainly because low interest rates make receiving regular rent more attractive than getting a lump sum of money. (Yonhap)