Female home ownership on rise as total number climbs 2% in 2023

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Female home ownership on rise as total number climbs 2% in 2023

Published: 18 Nov. 2024, 18:09 Updated: 18 Nov. 2024, 19:24

Apartment complexes in Seoul [YONHAP]

The number of homeowners in Korea increased by 2 percent on year in 2023, with female ownership showing a steady rise, government data showed Monday.

The total number of people with home ownership registrations reached 15.62 million last year, up by 309,000 compared to the previous year, according to data by Statistics Korea.

The data showed that 7.2 million were women, making up 46.2 percent of the total.

The ratio has been on a gradual rise, from 45.2 percent in 2020 to 45.6 percent in 2021 and 45.9 percent in 2022.

Among all homeowners, 2.34 million people, or 15 percent, owned two or more properties.

The proportion of homeowners with multiple properties reached its peak in 2019 at 15.9 percent but has since declined, falling to 15.1 percent in 2021 and 14.9 percent in 2022.

Regionally, the southern island of Jeju recorded the highest percentage of multiple home owners at 20.3 percent, followed by South Chungcheong at 17.7 percent.

In contrast, the percentage was relatively low in Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi, where it stood at 14 percent.

The data also showed that 13.3 million people owned only one property, 85 percent of all homeowners.

In terms of age distribution, homeowners in their 50s accounted for the largest share at 25.2 percent, followed by those in their 60s with 22.8 percent, 40s with 21.2 percent and 70s with 12 percent.

The number of first-time homebuyers reached 719,000 in 2023. In contrast, 306,000 people sold their homes and no longer owned any property during the same period.

The average home price for the country was 321 million won ($230,000) last year, up from 315 million won a year earlier, according to the data.

Notably, the top 10 percent of households in terms of property value owned homes priced at an average of 1.26 billion won, 40.5 times higher than the average home value of the bottom 10 percent at 31 million won.

Additionally, the top 10 percent of households owned an average of 2.37 properties, approximately 2.4 times more than the bottom 10 percent who owned an average of 0.98 properties.

Yonhap