Fewer households below the minimum housing standard, larger residential floor area per person

Higher satisfaction with public rental housing, greater intent to move into public rental housing

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Minister Noh Hyeong-wook) has released the results of the 2020 Korea Housing Survey, which was commissioned to the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements (President Kang Hyun-soo) and conducted from July to December of last year on a sample of 51,000 households.

In 2020, continued efforts to improve housing welfare—including the Housing Welfare Roadmap (Nov. 2017, Mar. 2020) and support measures for newlyweds and young people (Jul. 2018)—yielded improvements in the qualitative aspects of the public's housing.

The share of households below the minimum housing standard fell from 5.3% in 2019 to 4.6% in 2020, and residential floor area per person increased from 32.9㎡ in 2019 to 33.9㎡ in 2020. Satisfaction among households living in public rental housing improved from 93.5% in 2019 to 94.4% in 2020, and the share of all households intending to move into public rental housing also rose from 33.9% in 2019 to 35.6% in 2020.

However, 2020 was the year the COVID-19 pandemic began, and amid a worldwide ultra-low interest rate stance adopted to counter the economic downturn, home prices and rents rose, pushing up the PIR and RIR.

The PIR (the ratio of house price to annual income) for owner-occupier households was 5.5 times (median), up from 5.4 times in 2019, and the RIR (the ratio of monthly rent to monthly income) for renter households also rose to 16.6% (median) from 16.1% in 2019. By region (median), the Seoul metropolitan area (18.6%) and metropolitan cities, etc. (15.1%) declined from the previous year, while provincial areas (12.7%) remained unchanged from the previous year.

Households 'living' in their own home accounted for 57.9% of all households, similar to the 2019 level (58.0%). By region, provincial areas edged up slightly while the Seoul metropolitan area and metropolitan cities edged down slightly, but overall the figures were similar to the previous year.

In addition, despite the continued housing supply over this period, record-high household formation kept the owner-occupancy rate at 57.9%, similar to the previous year (58.0%), while the homeownership rate declined from 61.2% in 2019 to 60.6% in 2020. Households that 'own' their home stood at 60.6%, rising in provincial areas and declining in the Seoul metropolitan area and metropolitan cities, etc. The number of years needed to purchase a first home was 7.7 years in 2020, up from 2019 (6.9 years).

The average length of residence for all households in 2020 was 7.6 years. By tenure type, owner-occupier households resided for 10.6 years and renter households for 3.2 years, similar to the previous year; by region, the average length of residence was longest in provincial areas (10.0 years), followed by metropolitan cities, etc. (7.4 years) and the Seoul metropolitan area (6.1 years). Households that had lived in their current home for two years or less made up 37.2% of all households—20.7% among owner-occupier households and 62.1% among renter households. By region, residential moves were relatively more frequent in the Seoul metropolitan area (41.9%) than in metropolitan cities, etc. (36.1%) and provincial areas (30.5%). When households with moving experience were surveyed about their reason for moving to their current home, the responses were, in order: 'to upgrade facilities or amenities' (48.3%), 'proximity between home and work' (29.7%), and 'to acquire a home' (28.3%).

However, entering 2021, leading supply indicators such as apartment permits and construction starts have been increasing, and since ample additional supply is scheduled through the previously announced supply measures (the May 6, Aug. 4, and Feb. 4 measures, etc.), the homeownership rate is projected to gradually rise.

Going forward, the government plans to continue its efforts to swiftly implement the previously announced supply measures for the housing stability of homeless ordinary citizens and to secure a stock of 2.4 million long-term public rental homes by 2025 (a stock ratio of 10%).

For public rental housing, the government plans to introduce mid-sized units (60–85㎡ of exclusive floor area) and, through quality innovation and tailored housing services, create even more attractive places to live, while building an even tighter housing safety net through the expansion of housing benefits and the expansion of projects to upgrade the housing of those living in non-residential dwellings.