Housing Supply Down 30.2%... Population Movement Declines for 8 Consecutive Months in August

Statistics Korea Announces 'Domestic Population Movement in August 2021' on the 29th

Real estate stock photo / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The number of domestic population movers continued to decline for the eighth consecutive month due to a decrease in the volume of transactions for apartments and houses scheduled for occupancy.

According to the 'Domestic Population Movement in August 2021' statistics released by Statistics Korea on the 29th, the number of movers last month was 590,000, down 4.0% (24,000 people) compared to the same month last year. This marks the eighth consecutive month of decline in domestic movers since January this year. Previously, there was a 10-month consecutive decline from March to December 2012.

Population movement typically tends to increase or decrease in line with housing sales and lease transactions. This month, the decrease in population movement is interpreted as being due to a reduction in the supply of apartments scheduled for occupancy and a decline in housing transaction volume.

An official from Statistics Korea explained, "The supply of apartments scheduled for occupancy in July and August was 55,000 units, down 30.2% (24,000 units) compared to the same period last year," and added, "Housing transactions in June and July recorded 178,000 units, a 36.5% decrease (100,000 units) compared to the same period last year."

The population movement rate, which indicates the number of movers per 100 people, was 13.5%, down 0.6 percentage points compared to the same month last year.

Among movers, 65.7% moved within the same city or province, while 34.3% moved between cities or provinces. Compared to the same period last year, intra-city/province moves decreased by 6.5%, whereas inter-city/province moves increased by 1.2%.

Meanwhile, by region, 11 cities and provinces including Seoul, Daegu, and Gyeongnam experienced net population outflow, while 6 cities and provinces including Gyeonggi, Incheon, and Sejong saw net population inflow.

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