"Must Have Own Home"…54% During Park Geun-hye → 79% at End of Moon Jae-in Era

Housing Price and Rent Surge Causes Residential Anxiety, 'My Home' Savings
7 out of 10 People Say "House Prices Will Fall Further in the Next Year"

Photo by Yonhap News

It was found that 75% of the public believe "one should own their own home." This figure, which was in the 50% range during the mid-2010s when housing prices were relatively stable, has sharply surged amid the housing price boom. Analysts suggest that the intensified housing insecurity caused by soaring home prices and rents has increased the desire for homeownership.

75% say "One should own their own home"

According to a real estate ownership perception survey released on the 19th by the polling firm Gallup Korea, 75% responded that "one should own their own home." Meanwhile, 22% said "there is no need," and 2% withheld their opinion.

The percentage of respondents who said "one should own their own home" was 54% in July 2014, rising steadily to 63% in January 2017, 72% in March 2019, and 79% in March 2022.

Between 2014 and 2017, the increase in respondents was mainly among those in their 20s and 30s, but since then, the desire for homeownership has appeared evenly across all age groups.

"Under Moon Jae-in administration, soaring home prices and rents heightened the perceived necessity of owning a home"

Gallup Korea analyzed, "It appears that more people have come to realize the necessity of owning a home after experiencing years of policy confusion, market instability, soaring home prices and rents, and the shift to monthly rent systems."

The desire to own a home is interpreted to be closely related to apartment sale prices and the housing purchase burden index.

According to KB Real Estate data, the median sale price of apartments in Seoul surged from about 470 million KRW in July 2014 to 1.08 billion KRW in October 2022.

The housing purchase burden index nationwide rose from 52.3 in the third quarter of 2014 to 84.9 in the third quarter of 2022. During the same period, Seoul's index increased from 88.5 to 204. This index represents the loan repayment burden for a median-income household purchasing a median-priced home with a standard loan, where a value of 100 corresponds to a situation in which about 25% of household income is spent on mortgage repayments.

68% say "House prices will fall over the next year"

When asked about the outlook for house prices over the next year, 68% responded that prices will "fall."

Only 10% said prices would "rise," marking a record high for pessimism following previous surveys.

Since the June 2017 6.9 real estate measures, house prices in key interest areas have repeatedly experienced temporary stagnation followed by surges and overheating each time related policies were announced. This pattern has been clearly reflected in house price outlook surveys as well.

The expectation of rising house prices increased annually from 50% in September 2018, to 55% in December 2019, and 61% in early July 2020, remaining stable until September 2021 regardless of government measures. The lowest expectation for rising house prices during the Moon Jae-in administration was 20% in March 2019.

Gallup Korea stated, "The Yoon Suk-yeol administration has recently eased real estate regulations significantly, and reports of falling house prices continue daily, but due to steep interest rate hikes, even genuine buyers find it difficult to attempt transactions immediately." The newly issued amount COFIX (Cost of Funds Index), which serves as the benchmark for variable-rate mortgage loans, hit a record high of 3.98% on November 15.