65% of Gwanak-gu Residents Live in 'Others' Homes'... 7 Lowest Homeownership Areas Are in Seoul

2020 Housing Ownership Statistics

7 of the Bottom 10 Districts Are in Seoul

Ability to Purchase Homes Worsens Due to Loan Regulations

Gap Investment Also Increases Rental Proportion

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] As housing prices soared and loan regulations tightened, the ability of homebuyers to purchase homes has deteriorated, resulting in 7 out of 10 regions with the highest tenant ratios being concentrated in Seoul. Notably, most of these districts are areas within Seoul where housing prices are relatively low, drawing attention. The industry analyzes that because many gap investments are made with expectations of capital gains rather than for actual residence, the proportion of rental housing has relatively increased.

According to an analysis of the '2020 Housing Ownership Statistics' released by Statistics Korea on the 16th, among all cities, counties, and districts nationwide, the area with the lowest homeownership rate among resident households was Gwanak-gu, Seoul. This rate was 35.5%, meaning that more than 6 out of 10 households are tenants rather than homeowners.

What draws attention is that among the bottom 10 districts in terms of ownership rate, except for Hanam-si in Gyeonggi Province (43.4%), Gijang-gun in Busan (43.4%), and Nam-gu in Daegu (44.9%), the other 7 are all in Seoul. Districts such as Mapo, Yongsan, Yeongdeungpo, and Geumcheon-gu were positioned in the lower ranks.

Kyunghee Yeo, Senior Researcher at Real Estate 114, analyzed, "In the case of Gwanak-gu, there have been many recent redevelopment projects, and the area is densely populated with row houses, multi-family, and detached houses, so the proportion of homes purchased for investment purposes and rented out is relatively high." The industry points out that Yeongdeungpo and Geumcheon-gu also have low homeownership rates for similar reasons. According to the housing transaction status from the Korea Real Estate Board, out of 9,517 homes traded in Gwanak-gu last year, 2,287 were purchased by outsiders.

In the case of Hanam-si, Gyeonggi Province, the low actual residence rate is attributed to high investment demand in Misa Riverside New Town and an influx of tenants hoping to win apartment subscription lotteries. In fact, Hanam-si ranks second in the proportion of apartment investments by outsiders among regions with high land price change rates.

The rise in Seoul housing prices is also cited as a reason for the high number of tenant households in Seoul. According to KB Real Estate Liiv ON, the housing price increase rate in Seoul last year was 10.17%, surpassing the national average of 7.96%. Geumcheon-gu and Yeongdeungpo-gu recorded notable increases of 11.12% and 11.16%, respectively, standing out even within Seoul. While housing prices soared, loan regulations and other factors raised the threshold for homeownership, increasing the tenant ratio. The fact that there were over 9 million non-homeowning households in Seoul last year also supports this.

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