SEOUL, June 3 (Xinhua) -- South Koreans in their 20s needed 86.4 years to buy an apartment in the capital city only with savings, labor institute estimates showed Monday.
Local households, headed by those aged 20-29, were required to spend 86.4 years on the purchase of an apartment in Seoul with savable income in 2023, a report from the Labor Institute of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions showed.
It more than doubled the 39.5 years needed in 2014, according to the report based on household data from Statistics Korea and real estate data from KB Land.
For the past 10 years through 2023, the annual average income of the households in their 20s gained 21.02 percent from 34.07 million won (24,700 U.S. dollars) to 41.23 million won (29,900 dollars).
It was far lower than the growth of 45.17 percent from 45.68 million won (33,120 dollars) to 67.62 million won (49,020 dollars) for the total households in the 10-year period.
After deducting consumption and non-consumption expenditures from annual income, the average savable income for households in their 20s climbed 12.65 percent from 12.33 million won (8,940 dollars) in 2014 to 13.89 million won (10,070 dollars) in 2023.
For the total households, the savable income surged 64.90 percent for the past 10 years.
The labor institute noted that given the surge in housing prices, it became almost impossible for young households to buy their own homes in Seoul.
An annual average transaction price per apartment in Seoul amounted to 1.2 billion won (870,070 dollars) in 2023, sharply up from 487.2 million won (353,250 dollars) tallied in 2014. ■
