Apartment and villa complexes in Seoul as seen from the Seoul Sky observatory atop Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu. [Yonhap]
Apartment and villa complexes in Seoul as seen from the Seoul Sky observatory atop Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu. [Yonhap]

A story about a salaried worker who said rising home prices left him feeling left behind has struck a chord online.

The account, posted recently on the online community platform Blind, described a conversation the worker had with his parents over the question of buying a home.

The poster, identified only as A, said he had recently told his parents he thought it was time to buy a home, only to end up in an argument over the idea.

His parents pushed back, asking why he was in such a rush and suggesting he wait a little longer — a response that left A frustrated.

When he brought the subject up again a few days later, A told his parents that friends whose families had bought homes for them had gotten in early and had since seen prices climb by hundreds of millions of won. "When I see friends who bought homes in areas close to Seoul — Hanam, Guri, Wangsimni, Junggye — I feel like I've fallen so far behind," he wrote.

His parents' reply caught him off guard. "We looked into home prices over the past few days and had no idea they had risen this much. We're so sorry. We feel like we've done something wrong," they told him, adding that they had simply worked hard without knowing much about real estate or investing.

A said he quickly reassured them. "That's not what I meant. Let's just do our best to find the right home within whatever budget we can manage," he told them.

A, who said he has no marriage prospects at the moment and has saved around 200 million won ($141,000), also shared his plan going forward.

"I'd like to buy a home in the 500 million to 550 million won range in as decent a location as possible — even just holding its value would be fine," he wrote, adding that he planned to invest his remaining savings steadily in assets such as the S&P 500 to build wealth over time.

"I've spent months feeling nothing but despair over real estate and stocks, but I think it's time to get my head straight," he said, and went on to say he planned to visit neighborhoods including Byeollae, Dasan, Guri, Pyeongchon and Junggye in person to scout for a home.

Tax burden fears slow price gains in Gangnam apartments

Meanwhile, apartment price growth in Seoul's Gangnam area has begun to slow following the government's tax reform package announced Monday, which is expected to sharply increase the tax burden on high-end properties in the district.

According to the Korea Real Estate Board, Seoul apartment prices rose 0.16 percent this week, a slight acceleration from last week's 0.15 percent gain. But the southeastern zone — which covers the three Gangnam-area districts and Gangdong-gu — rose only 0.09 percent, down from 0.13 percent the previous week. The area has now posted four consecutive weeks of slowing price growth since the first week of July, when it rose 0.25 percent.

Gangnam-gu's weekly gain nearly flatlined, slipping from 0.07 percent last week to just 0.01 percent this week. Seocho-gu eased from 0.05 percent to 0.02 percent, and Songpa-gu's gain narrowed from 0.20 percent to 0.15 percent.

The tax reform package unveiled Monday would raise the comprehensive real estate holding tax on ultra-high-priced homes and reduce the long-term capital gains deduction, significantly increasing the tax burden on expensive properties in the Gangnam area.

The weekly survey was conducted as of Monday and completed before the tax reform details were released, meaning the announcement has not yet been fully priced in. Even so, anticipation of higher taxes in the Gangnam area had already begun to dampen buyer demand and show early signs of price softening.


choigo@heraldcorp.com