A view of apartment buildings in Seoul. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of Seoul households in their 30s without a home climbed to an all-time high last year, even as homeownership among the same age group fell to its lowest level since records began, government data showed Sunday.
According to the National Data Office, 527,729 Seoul households headed by someone in their 30s did not own a home in 2024, up 17,215 from a year earlier and the highest figure since tracking began in 2015. The increase marks the sixth consecutive annual rise.
Homeownership, in contrast, has been declining for three straight years. Only 183,456 Seoul households in their 30s owned a home last year, the lowest level on record and a drop of nearly 7,900 from the previous year. As a result, non-owners now outnumber owners by nearly three to one — the widest gap ever recorded.
The homeownership rate for Seoul households in their 30s fell to 25.8 percent, down sharply from 33.3 percent in 2015. While the national homeownership rate for the same age group also hit a record low of 36 percent, Seoul’s figure lags by more than 10 percentage points, reflecting how the capital’s soaring home prices and supply shortages disproportionately burden young adults.
Analysts attribute the trend to several overlapping factors: delayed marriage, the growth of single-person households, steep housing costs and stricter mortgage rules that have raised barriers for first-time buyers. Many younger Seoul residents say the government’s more aggressive housing curbs this year — including tighter loan-to-value limits — have made buying a home feel possible only for the wealthy.
A separate survey of 700 single, non-homeowning young adults nationwide, conducted last year by the Korea Land & Housing Institute, found that 83.2 percent believe buying a home is essential for long-term stability and wealth building. The most-desired forms of support were assistance for home purchases (24.3 percent) and rental deposits (22.3 percent), followed by greater public rental and public presale housing supply.
As housing affordability continues to erode, the data underscores the deepening struggle of South Korea’s younger generation to gain a foothold in the property market — especially in the nation’s capital.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
