305 Cases in January... '1 in 3' Transactions Involve People in Their 30s
60% of Units Under 85㎡ Allocated by Lottery... Lower Barriers to Subscription
It has been revealed that the purchasing activity of people in their 30s has increased in Seoul apartment transactions. Typically, in the real estate market, people in their 40s are the major buyers, but in Seoul, it is interpreted that people in their 30s with purchasing power are entering the market following the government's regulatory easing.
On the 24th, Real Estate Info, a real estate market analysis firm, analyzed the apartment sales transaction status from the Korea Real Estate Board and found that the number of purchases by people in their 30s in Seoul hit a low of 171 in November last year, then rose for three consecutive months to 232 in December and 305 in January. Since September last year, the number of transactions by people in their 40s has also been surpassed.
Since the age-specific purchase statistics for Seoul were released in 2019, the number of purchases by people in their 30s has consistently been higher than that of people in their 40s and other age groups. The proportion of purchases by people in their 30s in Seoul overall (with nationwide figures in parentheses) was ▲28.8% (24.0%) in 2019 ▲33.5% (24.3%) in 2020 ▲36.4% (24.8%) in 2021, showing an upward trend each year. However, last year it slightly decreased to 28.2% (22.3%). Conversely, the proportion of purchases by people in their 40s has been declining: ▲28.7% in 2019 ▲27.5% in 2020 ▲26.4% in 2021 ▲23.6% in 2022.
In the subscription market, the purchasing power of people in their 30s is expected to strengthen further as ‘lottery-based’ units become available. Following the 1·3 measures, all of Seoul except for the Gangnam 3 districts and Yongsan district have been removed from regulated areas, resulting in lottery-based quotas of 60% for units under 85㎡ and 100% for units over 85㎡. In particular, subscriptions are favored by younger generations because they typically require a down payment of about 10% of the sale price, allowing for installment purchases by paying the middle and final payments in parts, even if they do not have the full amount upfront.
Kwon Il, Research Team Leader at Real Estate Info, said, “With loan interest rates falling and special housing loans like the Special Bogeumjari Loan being introduced, the purchasing burden has eased, and several urgent sale properties have appeared, leading people in their 30s to actively buy.” He added, “The desire of people in their 30s to own a home remains high, and since the most reasonable way to buy a new apartment is still through subscription, demand aiming for the subscription lottery system is expected to increase further.”
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