Only 6.6% of bottom quintile own the home they live in
Top quintile's average assets reach 1.78 billion won
Experts call for urgent measures to stabilize housing for renters, youth
The gap in average home values between households in the top and bottom 20 percent of the asset distribution has widened to more than 290 times, the largest disparity since records began in 2017. While income inequality has been easing, wealth polarization — driven largely by real estate — is deepening.
According to the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS) under the Ministry of Statistics, the average value of owner-occupied homes held by top-quintile households reached 693.41 million won ($523,000) last year, up 7.7 percent from the previous year. That is the second-highest level on record, trailing only the 746.35 million won posted in 2022.
By contrast, the average value of owner-occupied homes among bottom-quintile households was just 2.39 million won — down 9.1 percent from a year earlier and the lowest since 2017. With top-quintile home values rising while bottom-quintile values fell, the price gap between the two groups widened to 290.1 times.
The figures are based on the value of homes that households both own and live in. Households that rent — whether on a jeonse or monthly rent basis — are counted at zero, and homes owned but not personally occupied are excluded. For households with multiple properties, only the value of the home they actually live in is counted.
Among bottom-quintile households, just 6.6 percent owned the home they lived in last year, down 0.8 percentage points from the previous year and the lowest rate since the data series began. Among top-quintile households, the homeownership rate stood at 82.5 percent — down 1.2 percentage points year on year — but rising home prices more than offset the decline in ownership, pushing the average value higher. The median home value among top-quintile households that owned their residence rose 2.9 percent to 720 million won.
The gap has been widening over the long term. From around 146 times in 2017 and 2018, it expanded to 245.5 times in 2022, narrowed to 215.1 times in 2023, then widened again to 244.9 times in 2024 before surpassing 290 times last year.
Wealth polarization has also sharpened across total assets, including real estate. Average total assets among bottom-quintile households fell 2.9 percent last year to 25.88 million won, while those of top-quintile households rose 7.5 percent to 1.78 billion won ($1.34 million). The resulting asset gap of 68.6 times surpassed the previous record of 64.0 times set in 2022.
The widening asset gap stands in contrast to improving income distribution. Last year's survey showed that the gross income gap between the top and bottom quintiles was 11.2 times, while the disposable income gap was 9.8 times — both narrower than the 12-to-13-times gross income gap and 11-to-12-times disposable income gap recorded from 2017 to 2019. Even as income inequality eased, in other words, the wealth gap expanded to a record high.
The recent surge in prices for high-end apartments in Seoul may have further inflated the housing assets of the wealthiest households. Because the owner-occupied housing figures exclude properties held for rental or investment purposes, analysts note, the actual real estate wealth gap between asset groups is likely even larger.
Experts said stabilizing home prices alone is not enough and must be paired with support for housing-vulnerable groups and tax reform. Kim Kwang-seok, head of the economics research division at the Korea Economic and Industrial Research Institute, said "focusing solely on stabilizing home prices may not actually help housing stability," and called for expanding the supply of rental housing and public pre-sale housing for young people and newlyweds.
Lee Seon-hwa, a senior research fellow at the National Assembly Futures Institute, argued in a recent report that roughly 70 percent of household assets are concentrated in real estate, pointing to the need to restructure property holding taxes based on asset value rather than the number of properties owned. She also said tax policy, residential welfare and housing supply measures must be coordinated to reduce asset inequality.
y2k@heraldcorp.com
