Low-rise residences fill a neighborhood within the Hwagok neighborhood of Seoul’s Gangseo District. (Kang Chang-kwang/Hankyoreh)
The proportion of households dwelling in dwellings that failed to fulfill the minimal housing requirements in Korea rose barely final 12 months, marking the primary improve in seven years. This means worsening housing situations for low-income teams amid deepening housing polarization.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport launched a abstract of the findings of the 2024 Korea Housing Survey. The survey outcomes had been primarily based on interviews carried out by the Korea Analysis Institute for Human Settlements and Hankook Analysis, commissioned by the ministry, with a nationwide pattern of 61,000 households within the second half of final 12 months.
The survey discovered that the proportion of households that fail to fulfill the minimal requirements for housing underneath the Framework Act on Residence is 3.8%, up 0.2 share factors from final 12 months (3.6%).
The minimal housing requirements had been established to outline the naked minimal for humane dwelling situations, stipulating {that a} single-person family ought to occupy an area of at the least 14 sq. meters, or round 150 sq. ft (one room). The usual is elevated to twenty sq. meters (one room, one kitchen) for two-person households and to 29 sq. meters (two rooms, one kitchen) for three-person households.
The rise within the variety of households that fail to fulfill naked minimal requirements signifies that low-income households are having a tougher time paying for housing, whereas normal housing situations have worsened.
In 2017, the proportion of households that failed to fulfill naked minimal requirements was 5.9%. This fell for six consecutive years to three.6% in 2023 earlier than climbing again up once more final 12 months, the primary improve in seven years.
The median housing price-to-income ratio (PIR) for Seoul owners final 12 months got here to 13.9. This indicator measures the period of time it will take to buy a house primarily based on wage financial savings alone, which means that the common Korean must not contact their wage for 14 years so as to have the ability to afford an condo.
After Seoul, the areas with the best price-to-income ratio had been Sejong (8.2), Gyeonggi (6.9), Daegu (6.7) and Incheon (6.6)
When it comes to housing tenure sort, 58.8% of respondents owned their residence, whereas 38% rented. Amongst youthful Koreans, 82.6% had been renting their properties, whereas the speed of residence in non-housing unit dwelling quarters, resembling officetel and goshiwon, got here to 17.9%
Amongst newlyweds, 43.9% lived in a house that they owned, with condo complexes making up the most well-liked type of housing (73.4%).
Amongst older Koreans, 75.9% stated they lived in a house that they owned, with stand-alone housing being the most well-liked type of housing (39.2%).
The nationwide residence possession fee, which refers back to the proportion of people that possess their very own residence no matter whether or not they reside in it, rose barely final 12 months to 61.4%, up from 60.7% the 12 months earlier than. The speed of owner-occupancy additionally noticed an uptick, coming as much as 58.5% in 2024 from 57.4% in 2023.
The median rent-to-income ratio throughout the nation got here to fifteen.8%, the identical because the 12 months prior, which means that renters had been spending 15.8% of their month-to-month earnings on lease.
Newly unbiased Koreans are additionally taking barely longer to purchase their first properties, with the common interval between shifting out and shopping for a house being 7.9 years — two months longer than the 12 months prior.
By Choi Jong-hoon, employees reporter
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