Last Year, '2030' Age Group's Apartment Purchase Share Hits Record High... Seoul Surpasses 40%

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] Last year, the proportion of apartment purchases by the 2030 generation exceeded 30%, marking the highest figure since the survey began.

According to the Korea Real Estate Board on the 6th, the nationwide apartment purchase share by the 2030 generation last year was recorded at an average of 31%. This is the first time it has surpassed 30%, following 28.3% in 2019 and 29.2% in 2020 when the related survey started.

In particular, the proportion of apartment purchases by the 2030 generation was high in the metropolitan area.

In Seoul, it stood at 41.7%, significantly exceeding 31.8% in 2019 and 37.3% in 2020. Especially, the purchase share was high in areas close to workplaces in the city center or where jeonse prices are high but housing prices are relatively low.

For example, in Gangseo-gu, the share surged from around 46% in 2020 to 51.6% last year, surpassing the majority. Seongdong-gu also recorded 51.1% last year, up from 49% in 2020.

Nowon-gu saw the largest increase, rising more than 10 percentage points from 38.6% in 2020 to 49.3% last year. Gwanak-gu also rose nearly 10 percentage points from 37.7% in 2020 to 47.3% last year. This is interpreted as a result of many small- to medium-sized apartments priced under 900 million KRW, making mortgage loans easier, a high proportion of jeonse prices enabling gap investment, and some expectations for redevelopment projects.

In contrast, the Gangnam 3 districts, where high-priced apartments are concentrated, fell below the Seoul average. Gangnam-gu was the only district in Seoul where the 2030 generation’s apartment purchase share decreased, dropping from 28.5% in 2020 to 26.7% last year.

In Incheon, where apartment prices rose the most among metropolitan cities and provinces last year, the share increased from 27.2% to 33.2% during the same period. Gyeonggi-do also rose from 30.4% to 36.3%.

However, in Seoul, the purchase share has gradually declined since August last year, when financial authorities implemented strong loan regulations and loan interest rates began to rise. Until July last year, it soared to 44.8%, but then dropped to 41.2%, and fell further to 38% in December last year.

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