"Why Sell Samsung Electronics and SK hynix?" They Gave Up on Retirement... Those Who Bought Apartments, Regret It in the End? [Real Estate A to Z]

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[Financial News] In regulated areas, buyers must submit a Funds Procurement Plan when purchasing a home, regardless of the price. In non-regulated areas, the rule applies to home transactions worth 600 million won or more. In Seoul, however, most home purchases require the plan anyway because of the high property prices, regardless of whether the area is regulated.
An analysis of Funds Procurement Plans submitted from January to March this year, provided by the office of Kim Jong-yang of the People Power Party (PPP) and compiled from data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, suggests that total Seoul housing transactions were worth about 23 trillion won. So how did buyers finance them?
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First, the total value of Seoul housing transactions for which Funds Procurement Plans were submitted in the first quarter of this year came to 23.6 trillion won. The annual total transaction value for 2025 was 106 trillion won. Last year, quarterly transactions were worth about 26 trillion won.
The Funds Procurement Plan is divided into nine major categories. Looking at Seoul Housing Funds Procurement Plans for the first quarter of this year, the largest source of purchase funds was proceeds from the sale of real estate. That accounted for about 8.2 trillion won, or 34.7%.
Bank loans ranked second at 24.3%, followed by deposits at financial institutions at 16.8%. Even in the 2021-2025 Funds Procurement Plans, sale proceeds, loans, and bank deposits remained the main funding sources.
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Also notable is the sizable amount raised through the sale of stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies. From January to March, proceeds from such sales totaled 1.3 trillion won, or 5.7% of the total. Of that, cryptocurrency sales accounted for 12.1 billion won. The cryptocurrency sales category was added separately for contracts signed after Feb. 10. Gifts and inheritances also made up a significant share. Funds from gifts and inheritances used to buy Seoul housing in the first quarter totaled 1.4 trillion won, or 6.1%.
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What stands out is that the share of funds raised through the sale of financial assets and through gifts and inheritances has risen sharply this year in Seoul housing purchases.
The share of proceeds from stock, bond, and crypto sales was 2.9% in 2021, 3.3% in 2024, and 3.7% in 2025. This year, it has climbed to nearly 6%. Inheritance and gifts, a form of wealth transfer, show a similar pattern. In the past, the share was in the mid-3% range. But in the first quarter of this year, it exceeded 6%.
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The market believes the rise is due to tighter mortgage lending standards and the effective blocking of gap investment, which has pushed more buyers to rely on gifts, inheritances, and proceeds from the sale of financial assets.
According to a recent BOK report titled "Assessment of the Effects of Stock Wealth in Korea," households without homes are estimated to move 70% of their stock capital gains into real estate assets. One expert said, "So far, the peak destination for financial assets has been real estate, and that trend is still continuing," adding, "Whether this pattern will continue going forward is also a key question."
ljb@fnnews.com Lee Jong-bae Reporter