A new phenomenon distinctly different from the past is emerging in Seoul's real estate market for the first quarter of this year. People in their 30s are actively utilizing funds received through gifts or inheritance, as well as proceeds from selling financial assets such as stocks and bonds, to purchase homes. As housing prices continue to rise and loan regulations tighten, entering the housing market with income alone is becoming increasingly difficult. In this environment, statistics clearly show that the actual housing buyers in their 30s are receiving economic support from family members or liquidating investment assets they owned to fill funding gaps.
An analysis of data on Seoul housing purchase funding plans obtained by the office of lawmaker Jong Joon-young from the National Assembly's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport shows that gifts and inheritance funds used for home purchases in Seoul totaled 2.1813 trillion won in the first quarter of this year. A housing purchase funding plan is a mandatory document that must specify the source of funds when buying a home; in regulated areas, all housing transactions are subject to submission of this document, and in non-regulated areas, it must be submitted to local authorities within 30 days of the contract date for transactions of 600 million won or more. The submission obligation officially applies to regulated areas including Seoul since October 27, 2020.
The most notable point in this funding flow is that the amount of gifts and inheritance funds used by people in their 30s for Seoul housing purchases reached 1.915 trillion won, accounting for half of the total. The subsequent amounts by age group were 526.5 billion won for people in their 40s, 229.9 billion won for people in their 50s, 227.8 billion won for those 60 and older, 133 billion won for people in their 20s, and 220 million won for those under 20. The proportion of funds used by people in their 30s rose from 34.8% in 2023 to 40.9% in 2024, expanded to 43.5% last year, and in the first quarter of this year, this ratio exceeded 50%. The total amount of gifts and inheritance funds mobilized for purchasing Seoul homes also surged from 1.7451 trillion won in 2023 to 3.3257 trillion won in 2024, reaching a record high of 6.5779 trillion won last year on an annual basis. An enormous amount of funds, approximately one-third of the total last year's amount, was invested in just three months.
The presence of people in their 30s is also very prominent in housing purchase funds raised by selling investment assets such as stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrencies. In the first quarter of this year, funds raised by people in their 30s through this method totaled 721.1 billion won, surpassing both the 585.5 billion won raised by people in their 40s and the 464 billion won raised by people in their 50s. In the past, people in their 40s, who had relatively more accumulated assets, accounted for the largest share in this sector; indeed, from 2020 until last year, people in their 40s led annually in the size of funds from stock and bond sales. Last year, people in their 40s raised 1.9151 trillion won, while people in their 30s raised 1.7452 trillion won. However, since February 10 of this year, the fund procurement plan reporting items now include proceeds from the sale of cryptocurrencies in addition to stocks and bonds, leading to the interpretation that the actual capital mobilization power of people in their 30s is now more clearly revealed.
Experts point to rising Seoul housing prices and tightened financial regulations as the background for these market changes. As housing prices rise, the burden of initial funds increases, and loan limits are capped by regulations, prompting young actual housing buyers to receive financial support from parents or liquidate investment assets to proceed with purchases. This signifies that the barrier to entering the Seoul housing market has become that high. This trend is likely to continue in the future depending on the level of Seoul housing prices, the strength of loan regulations, and the profitability conditions of the risky asset market including cryptocurrencies.