“Borrowed to the hilt for 700 million won, paying 3 million won in interest alone”... The ‘Pangyo couple’ who said they were at the end of their rope see a turnaround: 1.3 billion won becomes 2.5 billion won

[Financial News] The story of a couple among the ‘borrowed-to-the-hilt’ crowd who were pushed to the brink by rising interest rates and falling home prices in 2022 has drawn renewed attention four years later amid recent real estate market conditions.

On the 11th, posts spread across multiple online communities and social media platforms (SNS), including one titled “Update on the couple who were busy paying interest on their apartment after borrowing to the hilt.”
The post tells the story of the so-called “Pangyo couple who borrowed to the hilt,” who appeared on TV Chosun’s “Investigative Report Seven” in October 2022. The couple were described as having bought an apartment in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, for about 1.3 billion won in October 2021, raising about 700 million won through a mortgage, personal loans and even loans from secondary financial institutions.
In an interview at the time, the couple explained that they had been willing to borrow to the hilt, thinking, “If I let this moment pass, I might never have another chance to buy a home in my lifetime.” But the problems began as soon as they bought the home. Interest rates rose rapidly and home prices fell, causing their debt burden to snowball.
At the time of the broadcast, the couple’s monthly principal-and-interest payments were reported to be nearly as much as their income. The program later showed them selling secondhand goods and even taking on side jobs to reduce their interest burden.
But four years later, the situation is completely different. The exact complex the couple bought has not been disclosed, but according to netizens’ guesses, Naver Real Estate listed the apartment’s most recent actual transaction price at 2.5 billion won as of October 13, 2026.


The apartment’s average actual transaction price over the past three months is 2.51 billion won, while its market price in November 2026 also reaches as high as 2.5 billion won. If the apartment identified online is indeed the home the couple bought for 1.3 billion won, a simple calculation puts the increase in its value at 1.2 billion won over four years. That would amount to around 92.3%.
Recent actual sale prices at major Pangyo complexes mentioned alongside the couple’s case at the time show that prices have recovered considerably. A unit with 118 square meters of exclusive-use area at Pangyowon 12 Complex Hillstate fell as low as 960 million won during the sharp downturn in 2022, but a unit of the same size in the complex sold for 1.68 billion won in June 2026.
The trend is similar at another prominent Pangyo complex. An 82-square-meter unit at Botdeul 1 Complex Pangyo Shinmiju sold for 1.65 billion won in November 2021 and for 1.9 billion won in October 2026. In July this year, transactions reached as high as 2.09 billion won.
Of course, it is impossible to know what price the couple could actually sell their home for now. And after accounting for loan principal and interest, acquisition and property taxes, brokerage fees and other costs, the increase in the home’s value would not translate directly into net profit.
An investment that had seemed at the time like a textbook case of “overleveraging gone wrong” has produced a completely different outcome four years later. Netizens responded: “They’re probably still just as busy paying interest, but I hope they didn’t sell and have managed to hold on until now,” “If they hadn’t bought then, they’d be paying that much to get a jeonse lease now,” and “Loans are investments, too.”
[email protected] Kim Hee-sun Reporter