An officetel building in western Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 12 (Korea Bizwire) — More than two-thirds of single-person households in South Korea pay monthly rent, which accounts for the majority of their expenditures, a survey showed Tuesday.
Station3 Inc., the operator of real estate brokerage app Dabang, surveyed 832 app users and found that 45 percent of them were living alone.
Of the single-person households surveyed, the largest group was in their 30s (34 percent), followed by those in their 20s (29 percent) and 40s (27 percent).
Among the respondents living alone, 40 percent earned between 2-3 million won (US$1,550-2,320) per month. Others earned between 3-4 million won (22 percent), and 1-2 million won (15 percent).
The share of single-person households paying monthly rent for housing was 68 percent, far exceeding those with deposit-based leases (27 percent).
Most of them lived in studio apartments (52 percent) or two or three-room housing (24 percent).
Close to half (48.1 percent) said housing costs took up the majority of their monthly expenditures. Others said housing costs took up 10-20 percent (39 percent) or 20-30 percent (38 percent) of their monthly expenditures.
A majority of respondents (71 percent) said they wished that housing costs would take up no more than 10-20 percent of their monthly expenditures, indicating a significant gap in reality.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
