Koreans in their 30s go all-in on housing, outpacing older buyers

Seoul apartments are seen from Namsan in central Seoul on Jan. 6. [NEWS1]

 
[BEHIND THE NUMBERS] 


For a 32-year-old office worker surnamed Shin, her lunch break is precious time devoted to studying real estate trends. Instead of eating leisurely and chatting with colleagues, she opts for a quick meal so she can spend the rest of the break calling real estate agents to track recent housing transactions.
 
She is one of a growing cohort of Koreans in their 30s who have emerged as fervent real estate believers, convinced that property investment is the only reliable path to financial security in later life. Armed with loans, data and a strong sense of urgency, Korea’s millennials are pushing into the housing market, with buyers in their 30s now accounting for the largest share of home purchases.
 

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They have grown more aggressive in property investment in recent years — often involving transactions worth several hundred thousand dollars — even as they tighten their daily spending amid inflation, underscoring their unwavering attraction to real estate. 
 
The tide began to turn in 2024, when buyers in their 30s started to outpace their older counterparts, a gap that further widened in 2025. Last year, people in their 30s accounted for the largest share of home purchases, totaling 290,446 units, or 28 percent of all buyers, according to data from the Supreme Court of Korea, with buyers in their 40s following at 27 percent. The year earlier, 2024, those in their 30s also accounted for the largest share at 28 percent — the same year when spending by those in 30s and under fell 3.5 percent to 2.48 million won ($1,700) from a decade earlier, according to the government data.
 
As for Shin, she bought two apartments for herself over the past two years — one in Gyeonggi and the other outside the metropolitan cities — and helped her boyfriend secure a unit in Seoul. Yet her unwavering faith in the property market is pushing her to aim higher, constantly hunting for the next investment opportunity.
 
“There’s no limit — I plan to keep expanding my real estate holdings,” Shin said. “My goal is to buy more properties whenever I have the money.” She explained that she plans to steadily increase home ownership as the jeonse (lump-sum deposit) prices of her properties rise, aiming for financial freedom when she has 3 billion won.
 
Despite tighter lending rules and heavy taxation, the powerful learning effect from past rallies and low interest rate are encouraging people in their thirties to place larger bets on property.
 
 

Participants of an imjang group put their feet together before starting a tour of apartment complexes in southern Seoul. [WOO JI-WON]

 
A generation shaped by housing rallies



Over the past two years, people in their thirties made most of their home purchases in the metropolitan areas of Gyeonggi and then Seoul, accounting for the largest buyer group in both regions. Though Seoul is often the most desirable area, soaring home prices have driven many buyers to Gyeonggi.
 
Their appetite has intensified after witnessing two major market rallies in quick succession: the first during the Covid-19-accelerated boom of 2020 through 2021, and the second beginning in 2024, and continuing under the new administration in 2025, with gains largely concentrated in Seoul. Their strong desire to buy homes has come at the cost of everyday spending: in 2024, those in their 30s and younger reduced expenditures on groceries and beverages by 3.9 percent and on apparel and shoes by 1.6 percent compared with a decade earlier.
 
“The younger generation has gone through two housing booms in a very short span,” said Lee Eun-hyeong, a research fellow at Korea Research Institute for Construction Policy. “They saw prices soar, heard warnings of a crash, and yet the market shot up even higher, solidifying their belief in real estate.”
 

 
Last time Seoul saw housing transaction prices rise more than 5 percent was in 2008, underscoring how exceptional the recent rally has been, with the figure jumping 6.5 percent in 2021 and 7.1 percent in 2025. The data are based on housing price indexes with June 2021 as the base period.
 
Lee noted that a record-high marriage rate fueled by pent-up pandemic demand is also driving the market. “Rising demand for home purchases [from the rebound in marriages], combined with young dual income couples who can afford the prices, is driving them to act.”
 
In September, marriages jumped 20 percent on year to the highest level since 1981, while home ownership among first-time newlyweds rose from 40.8 percent in 2023 to 42.7 percent in 2024 — reflecting the momentum of the housing market rally.
 
But the factor that is most encouraging them to place big bets is the low interest rate.
 
“The base interest rate has stayed low in the rate cut cycle, reducing their fears of drawing out mortgages,” said Kwon Dae-jung, professor at the Graduate School of Economics and Real Estate at Hansung University, noting that the Bank of Korea’s rate that has dropped from 3.5 percent in August 2024 to 2.5 percent since May 2025.
 
He added that the recent announcement to end the temporary suspension of the capital gains tax surcharge on multiple homeowners and the signals of a potential increase in property holding taxes are unlikely to curb demand. Instead, such measures are expected to drive transactions in mid-to-low-priced apartments under 1 billion won, mostly in Gyeonggi, further polarizing the market.
 
“The only way to temper the young generation’s fever in the housing market is to increase supply,” he said, but explained that such supply seems unlikely despite the government's ambitious vow on Thursday to “quickly” supply 60,000 housing units in the capital cities given regulatory restrictions. Due to lending limits on Seoul redevelopment projects, which is making it difficult for households to secure relocation loans, a supply of estimated 31,000 housing units is being delayed. 
 
 

A person passes by automated teller machines from major banks in Seoul on Dec. 21, 2025. [YONHAP]

 
A new way of life



The strong market fervor is evident in daily life, as real estate investment has become ingrained as a way of life to those in their thirties. They sacrifice sleep and leisure, skipping outings with friends to study market trends, track housing prices and tour properties.
 
One such example is Shin. Every morning, she starts her day by reading self-help books to sharpen her focus on investing on her way to work. During lunch, she calls several real estate agents to check recent transactions, prices and demand, getting a feel for the market in different areas. On her way home, she stops by the apartments she’s interested in, observing them firsthand before adding to a 200-page report on her imjang, a term roughly meaning on-site real estate scouting.
 
“I spend at least four hours a day — six if I can — studying the real estate market,” she said. That’s just on weekdays; on weekends, she spends the entire day touring different neighborhoods on imjang trips. “To stay on track, I also take lectures to keep up with market trends, where I’ve met colleagues my age who join me on these trips.”
 
Ha, a 34-year-old office worker in Seoul, may not study the property market as intensely as Shin, but she is equally devoted — going all in on real estate by recently purchasing the most expensive apartment she could afford, along with a commercial property for passive income, leaving herself little room to invest elsewhere.
 
“For me, real estate isn’t just an investment, but a way to give my family a place to feel safe,” said Ha. “If I don’t have enough money in old age, I can sell this home and move into a smaller apartment. Without a home now, I honestly think the anxiety over where I’d live would be unbearable.”

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@jooongang.co.kr]