Arya News - Some 27.7 percent of Koreans under the age of 40 owned homes last year, down 2.4 percentage points compared to the year before, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
SEOUL – A record-low number of South Koreans in their 20s and 30s owned their own homes in 2025, while the percentage of financially-challenged homeowners also marked the lowest ever.
Some 27.7 percent of Koreans under the age of 40 owned homes last year, down 2.4 percentage points compared to the year before, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. It was the lowest figure since the government started the tally in 2017, and substantially less than the 40.7 percent in 2018 and 2019.
The proportion of homeowners among those in their 50s and 60s was 63.5 percent and 68.5 percent, respectively. Both figures decreased marginally from a year before, by 0.6 percentage points for the 50-somethings and 0.4 percentage points for the 60-somethings.
The disparity in both homeownership and household assets between Koreans in their 20s and 30s and the 50s and 60s group was the highest-ever in 2025.
Households of those in their 50s had 551.6 million won ($378,000) in assets, while those in their 60s had 535.9 million won. Both groups had 2.5 times and 2.4 times the assets of households headed by those under 40 at 219.5 million won.
The data also showed that only 6.8 percent of Koreans in the bottom 20 percent in terms of assets owned homes in 2025. This was also the lowest on record, after peaking at 10.6 percent in 2018.
Some 84.2 percent of the top 20 percent owned homes in 2025, which has remained largely unchanged since the 84.5 percent recorded in 2017.