'Panic Buying' Resurges... 40% of Seoul Apartments Bought by 2030 Generation

July Transaction Share Hits Record High of 44.8%
30s and 40s Surpassed to Rank First by Age Group

‘Panic buying’ among the 2030 generation is spreading mainly in Seoul and the metropolitan area. This is interpreted as young people feeling anxious due to the persistent rise in housing prices, leading them to engage in ‘all-in buying’ one after another. In particular, in Seoul, despite the transaction freeze, the housing price increase has accelerated, with more than 40% of the apartments traded this year being purchased by people in their 20s and 30s.

According to the monthly apartment transaction status from the Korea Real Estate Board on the 23rd, out of 34,045 apartment sales transactions (based on the reporting date) in Seoul from the beginning of this year to July, 12,550 cases were buyers in their 30s, accounting for 36.9%. This is the highest proportion among all age groups. Including those in their 20s and below (5.0%), the purchase share of buyers aged 30 and under rises to 41.9%. This means that young people aged 30 and under bought 4 out of every 10 apartments in Seoul this year. Following the 30s, the proportions were 26.2% for those in their 40s, 15.5% for those in their 50s, 8.8% for those in their 60s, and 5.6% for those aged 70 and above.

The transaction share of those aged 30 and under was around 31.8% until 2019, but it increased to 37.4% last year as housing prices surged. This year, it has approached 42% by July, jumping more than 10 percentage points in just two years. The young generation, anxious about rising housing prices, has overtaken those in their 40s, who previously led the housing market, becoming the ‘big players’ in the apartment market.

Looking at monthly data, the transaction share of those in their 30s reached a record high of 39.6% in January this year since the Korea Real Estate Board began publishing age-specific statistics in 2019. It then dropped to 35.9% in February but rose again to 36.1% in March, fluctuating between 34% and 40% in April (34.1%), May (36.7%), June (35.2%), and July (39.5%). Expanding the range to those aged 30 and under, their transaction share first exceeded 40% in August last year at 40.4%, then hit an all-time high of 44.7% in January this year. It maintained the 40% level in February and March (40.1%, 40.6%), slightly dipped to 39.3% in April, rose again to 42.1% in May, dropped slightly to 40.7% in June, and jumped back to a record high of 44.8% in July.

Similar trends are observed in Gyeonggi Province and Incheon. Out of 124,391 apartment transactions in Gyeonggi this year, 35.8% were purchased by those aged 30 and under. This ratio has risen from 28.6% in 2019 and 30.4% in 2020 to surpass 35% this year. In Incheon, 32.6% of the 33,524 transactions this year were by buyers aged 30 and under. This ratio was 27.1% until 2019 but has risen to the 30% range for the first time this year.

Kim Hyoseon, Senior Real Estate Advisor at NH All100 Advisory Center, said, "The 2030 generation, who feel anxious about homeownership due to the rapid rise in housing prices, have a stronger will for economic freedom and are more interested in converting earned income into capital income than the 4050 generation." He added, "Therefore, both actual demand and investment demand coexist, and they show a more active purchasing tendency than the older generation." He also predicted, "Actual demand is focused on pre-subscription for the 3rd new town, villas in excellent locations, and newly built officetels, while investment demand is concentrated on low-priced apartments in non-regulated areas, small-scale redevelopment target houses in the outskirts of the metropolitan area, and transferable pre-sale rights, so the participation of the 2030 generation in the market is expected to continue in the second half of the year."