Economic Sentiment Worsens Due to COVID-19 Impact... Seoul Housing Purchase Attitude Index Plummets

Seoul Institute Policy Report, 'Industry/Economy' Ranked No.1 for Improvement Expectations After General Election

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] It has been revealed that the economic sentiment of Seoul citizens has worsened due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The housing purchase attitude index, which had been rising for three consecutive quarters, also dropped sharply compared to the previous quarter.

The Seoul Institute released a policy report on the 23rd titled "1st Quarter Seoul Consumer Sentiment and Economic Issues Related to the 21st General Election."

According to this report, the "Consumer Attitude Index," which represents the economic sentiment of Seoul citizens, was 82.8 in the first quarter of 2020, down 10.5 points from the previous quarter.

The Consumer Attitude Index indicates a positive outlook on economic prospects and consumption expenditure if it exceeds 100, and the opposite if it is below 100. There is also an analysis that the index is likely to decline further as the impact of COVID-19 intensifies.

While the "Net Asset Index" of Seoul citizens rose, the "Employment Situation Outlook Index" declined. Additionally, the "Current Living Conditions Index," one of the components of the Consumer Attitude Index, recorded 73.7, down 11.2 points from the previous quarter.

The Future Living Conditions Index also fell 3.7 points from the previous quarter to 85.4. This means that the number of households expecting their living conditions to worsen in one year has increased due to reasons such as decreased household income, economic recession, rising prices, and increased household debt.

The "Durable Goods Purchase Attitude Index" of Seoul citizens in the first quarter was 78.7, down 5.9 points from the previous quarter. The "Housing Purchase Attitude Index," which had been rising for three consecutive quarters, also turned downward, dropping sharply from 71.9 in the previous quarter to 52.8, a decrease of 19.1 points.

Seoul citizens also expected the 21st general election to have a significant impact on the economy (40.2%).

However, regarding the direction of this impact, 49.8% expressed a "neutral" view, while 24.7% held a negative view, indicating a high level of pessimism.

Specifically, the areas where respondents believed the election would have a strong impact were "health security (35.4%)," "housing price levels (32.9%)," "living cost levels (27.8%)," and "youth unemployment and employment status (27.4%)" in that order.

The areas where respondents expected the election's impact to improve were "welfare level (17.0%)," "housing price levels (14.7%)," and "health security (13.4%)."

When asked about the areas they hoped would improve due to the election, based on the first priority only, "industry/economy (25.6%)" was the most selected. When combining first to third priorities, "jobs/employment (56.5%)" received the most choices.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.