The property divide: Real estate drives Korea's widening wealth gap

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The property divide: Real estate drives Korea's widening wealth gap

Published: 09 Mar. 2026, 14:39 Updated: 09 Mar. 2026, 14:41

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Apartment complexes in Yongsan District, central Seoul, are seen from an observatory in Mount Namsan on Feb. 26. [YONHAP]

The top 20 percent of households in Korea held about 65 percent of the country’s total net assets last year, while the bottom 40 percent accounted for only 4.8 percent, according to a new analysis released on Friday.

The findings were presented in a report released by Shinhan Financial Group's Future Strategy Research Institute. The report notes that inequality in Korea is increasingly being driven by assets — particularly real estate — instead of income.

“With 76 percent of household assets tied to real estate, rising property prices have widened the asset gap between social classes beyond what could be explained by several years’ worth of income differences,” the report said.

The trend is also reflected in the Gini coefficient, a measure of inequality in which figures closer to zero indicate greater equality. Korea’s income-based Gini coefficient improved from 0.352 in 2017 to 0.325 in 2024.

However, the Gini coefficient for net assets steadily increased during the same period, reaching 0.625 last year — its highest level since related statistics began being compiled.

The report also noted that Korea’s burden on housing prices is exceptionally high compared to other countries.

Korea’s housing price-to-income ratio stands at 24.1, compared to around 10 in countries such as the United States, Japan, Denmark and France. This means that a household earning the median income would need more than 24 years to buy a home, even if it saved all of its income.

Notices on apartments up for sale are seen posted outside a real estate office in Songpa District, southern Seoul, on March 8. [NEWS1]

“Korea has most of its assets tied up in real estate, so even if housing prices rise, households lack readily available cash and do not necessarily experience an improved quality of life,” the report said. “Debt centered on real estate leverage continues to accumulate, creating a structure that erodes consumption.”

The unequal structure appears to be even more severe among younger generations, according to the report.

As of 2023, assets accounted for 44.7 percent of inequality among Gen Z — defined as people born after 1991, according to the National Assembly Research Service.

This was higher than the share for millennials, born between 1981 and 1990, at 43.8 percent and Gen X, born between 1971 and 1980, at 42.5 percent. Among older people aged 65 or above, the figure was 31.9 percent, the lowest among the groups.

“The income gap can be narrowed through welfare policies or individual effort, but gaps created by factors such as whether parents own real estate are difficult to reverse through policy once they become entrenched,” the report said.

Apartment complexes in Yongsan District, central Seoul, are seen from an observatory in Mount Namsan on Feb. 18. [NEWS1]

The report also projected that stabilizing housing prices could help revive consumer spending among younger and middle-aged households and increase the likelihood of marriage and childbirth among young people.

In Korea, 63.8 percent of young people live with their parents until marriage, then move out either through the jeonse (lump-sum deposit) lease system — 49.5 percent — or through home ownership — 24.9 percent. Lower housing purchase burdens would reduce the financial barriers to marriage.

Birthrates show a similar pattern. When housing prices rise by one percent, the birthrate in the following year declines by 0.002, according to the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements.

“Demand is likely to grow among young people and newly married households for early-stage asset-building products such as savings plans designed to build seed money, youth Individual Savings Accounts and installment investment funds,” the institute said. “Easing housing cost burdens could bring positive changes across household life, including a recovery in consumption and improved conditions for marriage and childbirth.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM SEON-MI [[email protected]]