More than half of this year’s apartment buyers are in their 30s and 40s, and there is a growing preference for ‘chopuma’—a term used to describe apartment complexes adjacent to elementary schools. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Korea Bizwire) – More than half of this year’s apartment buyers are in their 30s and 40s, and there is a growing preference for ‘chopuma’—a term used to describe apartment complexes adjacent to elementary schools.
According to the Korea Real Estate Board on Tuesday, the total number of individuals who purchased apartments nationwide in the first eight months of this year reached 278,974. Out of this total, those in their 30s and 40s accounted for 147,701 buyers.
Specifically, individuals in their 30s accounted for 75,646, while those in their 40s made up 72,055, totaling approximately 52.94 percent of the overall buyers.
Furthermore, among the apartment complexes made available for sale this year, the top nine complexes with the highest competition rate for the first-level housing subscription savings accounts were found to have elementary schools within a 500-meter radius.
Considering that a significant number of individuals in their 30s and 40s have young school-going children and belong to dual-income households, ‘chopuma’ complexes have garnered significant interest in the housing subscription market.
In the apartment transaction market, ‘chopuma’ complexes have experienced a price surge. Based on the actual transaction prices reported to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, a unit in the Heliocity apartment complex with a floor area of 59 square meters in Songpa, Seoul, sold for 1.73 billion won in September—marking an increase of over 300 million won compared to the price in January (1.41 billion won). It’s noteworthy that there are two elementary schools within a 400-meter radius of the complex.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
