One in Two Buyers of Seoul's First Home Is in Their 30s... Incentives for the Unhoused Worked

Since the start of this year, the government has effectively pushed people without homes to buy their first home. It has done so by offering an incentive in the form of a grace period for owner-occupancy requirements, but only when a home sold by a multi-homeowner is purchased by a buyer without a home. The biggest response to this policy came from people in their 30s. Their buying spree even surpassed the record set five years ago, when young buyers rushed to purchase homes by taking on excessive debt in what is known as "yeongkkeol," or borrowing as much as possible, even to the point of risking everything.

According to the Court Registration Information Plaza on the 2nd, 14,764 people in their 30s bought first-time apartment-type properties, including apartments, officetels and multi-family homes, in Seoul from January to April this year. The buying momentum among young people without homes, which had fallen sharply to below 10,000 after 2021, has now fully recovered this year. The number of first-time buyers in their 30s by year for January to April was 14,004 in 2021, 5,780 in 2022, 2,941 in 2023, 5,655 in 2024 and 7,142 in 2025.
The first half of 2021 was a period of surging home prices and the last stretch of a low-interest-rate environment, when aggressive, debt-fueled home buying was widespread among young people. At the time, people in their 20s and 30s actively bought homes despite the government's strong measures to curb demand, using credit loans, overdraft accounts and even help from their parents. Even now, with high interest rates and the government's strong determination to crack down on speculation, reckless debt-driven buying is not easy. Still, the buying fever is even hotter. By the numbers alone, purchases have jumped more than fivefold, or 402.0%, from the 2023 low, and are up more than twofold, or 106.7%, from a year earlier. The share of buyers in their 30s among all age groups also reached 56.0%, the highest in six years. In other words, one in two homebuyers without a home this year is in their 30s. Rising financial assets from stock market gains and corporate performance bonuses are also believed to have influenced their homebuying decisions.
The government had previously said that a series of recent policies had helped young people buy their first home. Kim Yong-beom, Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy at Cheong Wa Dae, said, "In March, 73% of apartment buyers in Seoul were people without homes," and added, "The share of buyers aged 30 and under, the future generation of the housing market, was also 45%." However, buyers in their 20s, who have had less time to build assets, totaled 2,687 this year and have not returned to the 2021 peak of 4,267. Even so, the figure was up 68.4% from 1,596 a year earlier, showing a gradual increase.

First-time buying among middle-aged and older groups is also picking up. In particular, first-time purchases by people in their 50s, who have accumulated assets, reached 2,246 this year, nearly double the 1,173 recorded in 2023, when the figure hit its low point. Analysts say many of them had waited for a long time before buying, but eventually chose to secure what they see as a safe asset in the form of a Seoul apartment as the jeonse and monthly rental markets became unstable.
A rebound was also seen among retirees in their 60s and those aged 70 and older. First-time buyers without homes in their 60s numbered 971, while those 70 and older totaled 364, up 33.4% and 57.6%, respectively, from a year earlier, marking a clear recovery. In particular, among those 70 and older, buying activity tripled compared with 2023, when transactions had nearly frozen at 121. However, experts say these purchases are likely driven not only by actual residence but also by the intention to make gifts through the benefits available to first-time buyers.
ming@fnnews.com Jeon Min-kyung Reporter