6 out of 10 Koreans "Plan to Buy a House Next Year"

20s-30s "Tired of Jeon-Wolse, Want to Buy a House"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] A survey revealed that six out of ten people plan to buy a house next year. In particular, the proportion of people in their 20s and 30s who expressed plans to purchase a home due to fatigue from jeonse and monthly rent was higher than that of other age groups. When asked if they plan to sell their house, five out of ten respondents said they do not.

According to real estate information company Zigbang on the 15th, among the 2,042 participants in the survey, 1,309 (64.1%) responded that they plan to purchase a house next year. This means six out of ten people said they plan to buy a house next year. However, the percentage of respondents planning to purchase a house has steadily decreased since the survey began in 2020. It dropped from 71.2% last year to 69.1% this year.

A Zigbang official explained, "Recently, the upward trend in housing prices has slowed down, and as the market sentiment has become more cautious, expecting possible price adjustments in the future, the willingness to purchase a house has somewhat declined compared to last year."

In 2022, the percentage of respondents planning to purchase a house by residential area was as follows: provinces (69.8%), Gyeonggi Province (66.5%), five major provincial metropolitan cities (62.8%), Incheon (62.1%), and Seoul (57.2%).

The most common reason for planning to purchase a house next year was "owning a home instead of jeonse or monthly rent," accounting for 39.1%. This was followed by △relocation within the residential area (18.4%) △moving to a larger or smaller space (15.7%) △family members other than the respondent living there (12.8%) △investment purposes such as capital gains (9.7%). Notably, among people in their 20s and 30s, 50% cited "owning a home instead of jeonse or monthly rent" as their reason for purchasing a house, which was higher than other age groups (20-30%).

Among respondents, 37.7% said they would buy an "existing apartment," the highest proportion. This was followed by △applying for new apartment subscriptions (32.7%) △townhouses or villas (10.2%) △apartment pre-sale rights or move-in rights (8.9%) △detached houses (5.4%) △applying for or purchasing officetels (3.6%). Compared to last year, more people expressed interest in detached houses and officetel subscriptions or purchases.

The most common expected housing cost among those planning to purchase was "under 300 million KRW," at 38.3%. Those who chose "over 300 million KRW to 500 million KRW or less" accounted for 33.8%, slightly down from last year.

Regarding plans to sell a house in 2022, 1,196 respondents (58.6%) said "no." Those who answered "yes" to selling plans were 846 (41.4%), with the most common reason being "relocation within the residential area" at 31.7%. This was followed by △moving to a larger or smaller space (19.1%) △realizing capital gains or changing investment destinations (16.5%) △moving into a newly built house (11.1%). Only 9.6% cited disposal due to capital gains tax and comprehensive real estate tax burdens.

A Zigbang official said, "With the base interest rate hikes and strengthened regulations such as DSR expected to continue next year, buying activity is likely to be cautious, with actual demand mainly for home ownership, relocation, or changes in living space. However, demand diversification toward non-apartments and preference for mid- to low-priced properties are expected to continue."

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