This photo, taken in 2019 and provided by Choi Jong-eon, shows a new apartment complex in Yongin, 50 kilometers south of Seoul.
SEOUL, April 25 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of apartments that median income households can afford to buy in Seoul has declined sharply over the past five years, primarily due to a surge in housing prices.
According to the data that Rep. Chung Woo-taik of the People Power Party received from the National Assembly Budget Office, the Korea-housing affordability index (K-HAI) for the median income households in the nation’s 17 cities and provinces slipped from 58.7 percent in 2017 to 44.6 percent last year.
K-HAI reflects the burden of loan repayment for homebuyers with median income who purchase average-priced housing.
Higher numbers indicate greater burden, with an index of 100 meaning that 100 percent of the income goes to paying back the principal of home-backed loans.
The median monthly income for a single-person household stood at 1,827,831 won (US$1,468) last year, while those for two-person, three-person and four-person households stood at 3,088,079 won, 3,983,950 won and 4,876,290 won, respectively.
When it comes to Seoul, in particular, the K-HAI plunged from 16.5 percent in 2017 to 2.7 percent last year. This means that 16 or 17 out of 100 apartments were affordable for median income households five years ago, but this figure dropped to less than three last year.
During the same period, the K-HAI for the Gyeonggi Province declined from 51.3 percent to 26.2 percent and that for Incheon from 52.9 percent to 32.5 percent.
The city with the second lowest K-HAI was the central administrative city of Sejong, indicating that it is the nation’s second hardest city to buy a home in.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
