42% of Seoul Homebuyers Purchased Houses for Renting Out

Detailed Move-in Plans by Household for Housing Fund Procurement Plans of Homebuyers in the Seoul Area (Provided by Assemblyman So Byeonghun's Office)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Among the 460,000 people who bought houses in Seoul since 2018, 190,000 (41.9%) purchased homes for rental purposes.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to So Byung-hoon, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, an investigation of over 600,000 housing financing plans submitted in Seoul from 2018 to last August revealed that among 455,930 people who bought houses in Seoul, 41.9%, or 191,058 people, purchased homes for rental business purposes.

Looking at the age groups, the proportion of purchases for rental purposes exceeded half at 60.4% among those aged 20 and under. In particular, among minors aged 19 and under, 328 out of 430, a striking 76.3%, bought homes for rental business purposes. Among those in their 20s, more than half, 59.8% (7,122 out of 11,914), were confirmed to have purchased homes for rental purposes.

On the other hand, among those aged 30 and above, the proportion of actual residence for self or family occupancy was reversed to 56.7% (251,591 out of 443,586). The rental purpose ratio was 41.4% (183,608 people).

Assemblyman So Byung-hoon of the Democratic Party of Korea./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Rep. So said, "Among 2,230 homebuyers born between 1995 (age 25) and 2000 (age 20) who bought houses in Seoul since 2018, 77.7%, or 1,732 people, purchased homes not for actual residence but for rental business,” adding, “The government should strengthen regulations on those who buy houses for rental business and speculation."

Rep. So further argued, “If the government does not strengthen regulations on ‘gold spoon landlords’ who start real estate speculation and rental business from a young age with their parents’ help, the sense of loss and deprivation among young people and the homeless without houses will inevitably increase, and their housing insecurity will not be resolved.”

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