Most respondents said the government needs to expand public housing. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Six out of ten South Korean households believe one household needs one home, regardless of age or income level.
As long as the housing environment is stable, respondents were even willing to get a lease or pay monthly rent to live in a home.
The Korea Housing Finance Corp. conducted a survey on 5,000 households on housing finance and loans.
Among the respondents, 62.1 percent said that one household should have at least one primary residence.
This was also the case for 59 percent of households with members in their 30s, 60.9 percent for those in their 40s, 62.6 percent for those in their 50s, and 65 percent for those in their 60s or older.
Among households in the top 20 percent income tier, 59.4 percent said owning a primary residence was a must, while 61.2 percent in the top 20 percent to 40 percent income tier said likewise, as did 62.5 percent in the top 40 percent to 60 percent tier, 62 percent in the 60 percent to 80 percent tier, and 65.7 percent in the lowest 20 percent tier.
Among non-home owners, 50.7 percent were willing to purchase a home.
The reasons for not purchasing a home included ‘being uncomfortable getting a loan or accessing other ways of financing a home purchase’ (54.9 percent), and ‘feeling that purchasing a home is not a must’ (22.5 percent).
Roughly one third of non-home owners believed that housing prices will rise in one year, while 50.7 percent said prices will stay more or less the same and 16.9 percent said prices will drop.
Households were willing to spend an average of 331 million won ($295,000) to purchase a home, and most wanted to live in apartments.
The data also showed that 61.8 percent of households owned a home, a 2.2 percent increase from the previous year.
Only 33 percent of households with members under 30 years of age owned a home, which was almost 50 percent less than for those in their 40s.
One out of five households with members under 30 years of age said they were willing to get a lease or pay monthly rent as long as they could live in a stable environment, while 18.3 percent of those in their 40s said likewise, as did 15.7 percent of those in their 50s and 12.8 percent of those in their 60s or older.
Most respondents said the government needs to expand public housing.
Among the respondents, 40.7 percent said the government needs to expand public housing, while 30.5 percent called for better public aid to purchase a home.
Among 2,000 households who received a special housing loan offered by the Korea Housing Finance Corporation, 84.8 percent said they were satisfied with the loan.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
