Due to Interest Rate Hikes and Falling House Prices, the '2030 Generation Does Not Buy Homes'

Housing Purchase Share Hits Record Low at 24.1%

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Wanyong] The proportion of home purchases by the 20s and 30s age groups has hit an all-time low. This is analyzed as a result of higher mortgage interest rates and the perception that the housing price decline may continue for a long period.

On the 14th, real estate information provider Economy Manlab examined the volume of home purchase transactions by age group from the Korea Real Estate Board. From January to October this year, the nationwide housing sales transaction volume was 449,967 cases. Among these, the volume of home sales transactions by those aged 30 and under was 108,638 cases, accounting for 24.1% of the total. This is the lowest proportion since the Korea Real Estate Board began compiling related statistics in 2019 (based on January to October data).

Last year, the proportion of home purchases by those aged 30 and under reached 27.1%. Despite the craze for Yeongkkeul (borrowing to the limit), this year the proportion of home purchases decreased by 3.0 percentage points compared to the previous year.

The region where the proportion of home purchases by those aged 30 and under dropped the most compared to the previous year was Daejeon. From 28.5% in January to October last year, it fell to 23.6% in the same period this year, a decrease of 4.8 percentage points.

In the metropolitan area (Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon), Gyeonggi Province saw the largest decline in proportion. From January to October last year, the proportion of home purchases by those aged 30 and under in Gyeonggi was 31.7%, but this year it dropped to 27.5%, down 4.3 percentage points from the previous year. During the same period, Seoul decreased from 32.1% to 28.0%, down 4.1%, and Incheon fell from 27.0% to 22.5%, a decrease of 4.5 percentage points.

Hwang Hansol, a research fellow at Economy Manlab, said, “Although measures to ease loan interest rates for homebuyers are being introduced, the burden of securing housing funds has increased, and with the continued decline in housing prices, it is highly likely that home purchases by young people will decrease.”

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