Home purchases by minors nearly double in first 8 months of year

The number of homes purchased by minors nearly doubled in the first eight months of this year compared with the whole of last year.

Data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, obtained Friday by Democratic Party Rep. Hwang Hee, shows that people aged 19 or younger bought 66 homes nationwide through the end of August. That is about 1.8 times the 37 purchases recorded over all of 2025.

The combined value of this year's purchases through August was 23.1 billion won ($17.4 million), up 9.5 percent from 21.1 billion won for all of 2025.

Buyers reported that 56.7 percent of this year’s purchase value, or 13.1 billion won, came from their own funds, including savings and stock and bond sale proceeds.

On average, each home was worth 350 million won, of which about 200 million won was reportedly self-funded.

By region, minors purchased one home each in South Gyeongsang and Busan, worth 690 million won and 836 million won, respectively. Both purchases were financed entirely through funds reported as the buyers' own.

In Gyeonggi, minors purchased 11 homes worth a combined 2.74 billion won, with 73.9 percent of the total financed through the buyers' own funds. In Seoul, minors purchased 53 homes worth a combined 8.81 billion won, with 49.4 percent financed through their own funds.

Within Seoul, Jongno District in central Seoul and Geumcheon District in southern Seoul recorded the highest proportions of purchases financed through buyers' own funds, at 100 percent each. The districts recorded one transaction each, worth 600 million won and 292 million won, respectively.

The proportion was also above 50 percent in six other districts: Seodaemun District in western Seoul at 91.6 percent across three transactions totaling 1.1 billion won; Gwanak District in southern Seoul at 67.1 percent across two transactions totaling 245 million won; and Seongdong District in eastern Seoul at 64.6 percent for one transaction worth 310 million won. Dongjak District in southern Seoul recorded 61.7 percent across four transactions totaling 1.04 billion won, followed by Seongbuk District in central Seoul at 60.9 percent across two transactions totaling 560 million won and Yeongdeungpo District in western Seoul at 59 percent across two transactions totaling 366 million won.

From 2021 through August this year, minors purchased a total of 1,541 homes worth 340.5 billion won. Of that amount, 41.3 percent, or 140.6 billion won, was reported as having been financed through their own funds.

"When expensive homes are purchased in the names of minors or infants who lack the ability to support themselves financially, there is a high possibility of irregular transactions, including disguised gifts made through bank deposits or proceeds from stock sales, or the misuse of corporate funds," Hwang said.

"Relevant authorities, including the Land Ministry and the National Tax Service, must take strict measures, such as referring cases to the tax authorities, when suspected tax evasion is identified in funding plans submitted for home purchases by minors," Hwang added.

BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]