This photo taken in 2017 and provided by Choi Jong-eon shows an apartment complex in the southeastern city of Busan.
SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Over the last three years, an increasing number of South Koreans in their 20s and 30s are borrowing money to pay for more than half of cost of their housing.
Rep. Kang Jun-hyeon of the ruling Democratic Party compiled and analyzed more than 1.2 million funding plans submitted between 2017 and early this year.
South Koreans in their 20s and 30s who used loans to pay for more than half of the home’s price accounted for 36.2 percent of the entire age group this year, more than doubling since late 2017 (15.3 percent).
South Koreans in their 20s and 30s borrowing money to pay for more than 60 percent of the home’s price jumped in proportion from 6.8 percent in 2017 to 21.9 percent this year, rising by a factor of 3.2.
In other words, 1 in 5 South Koreans in their 20s and 30s who bought a home early this year are facing high financial risk after borrowing money to pay for more than 60 percent of the home’s price.
Only 33.2 percent, in contrast, bought a home this year without a loan.
“The rate of gap investment in major locations in the greater Seoul area stands between 35 and 50 percent, with some regions surpassing 60 percent. This shows that most people in their 20s and 30s are borrowing to buy a home,” Kang said.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
