This series examines issues and trends in Korean society, looking at the background and currents behind them and what they mean.
A, an office worker in his 30s, lives in a monthly-rent home. The lump sum he would have spent on buying a home is spread across stocks and exchange-traded funds. He concluded that growing his assets through financial products beats buying property with hundreds of millions of won in loans.
For A, monthly rent is not simply money paid because he has no home of his own. It is a kind of opportunity cost that allows him to invest. Even while paying housing costs every month, he chooses not to tie up his savings in a home and to keep room to deploy them. He judges that maintaining his current cash flow matters more than cutting living expenses or shouldering loan repayments to buy a home right away.
It was once common to think that saving money, buying a home and watching its price rise was the way to build wealth. But with home prices already up sharply and investment options more varied, the choices available to young adults have changed.
Young adults who don't buy: choosing monthly rent as a strategy
Stocks, ETFs and cryptocurrencies are the leading destinations. Since last year, sharp gains in major chip stocks such as Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK hynix (000660.KS) have drawn more interest to equities. Before that, stories circulated of people earning hundreds of millions or even billions of won from bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, leaving some young adults with the view that investing in financial assets is more advantageous than buying a home.
Young adults who strategically choose monthly rent prefer to divide their money across several assets rather than lock most of it into a single home. They spread investments across financial products and adjust their allocations as market conditions change. The ability to convert part of their holdings into cash when needed is another advantage they cite. The continuing fixed costs that come with buying a home — loan principal and interest, taxes and management fees — also factor into the decision.
Such choices are not always advantageous. Stocks, ETFs and cryptocurrencies can all lose value depending on market conditions, and cryptocurrencies in particular are highly volatile. If home prices rise sharply while they remain on the sidelines, they also miss a chance to build wealth. Even so, a growing number of young adults prioritize flexibility in managing their assets over the belief that they must own a home.
A good place to live now beats a deed in your name
Not buying a home does not always stem from investment motives. Some would rather live comfortably in someone else's home than uncomfortably in their own. They prefer a larger, more pleasant home as tenants over the older, cramped homes they could afford to buy.
Rather than stretching to buy an aging apartment, they want to live in a newly built officetel — a studio unit used as either a home or an office — or in a jeonse (lump-sum deposit lease) or monthly-rent home with good amenities nearby. They weigh distance from work, whether the building is new, the size of the home, and nearby shops and conveniences. Some choose outlying areas if the condition of the home or the surrounding environment is better, even at the cost of a longer commute.
B, an office worker in their 40s, said: "Even if you buy a home, it isn't really yours — it belongs to the bank. There is no parking, so you end up quarreling with the neighbors every day. Rather than live in a run-down place with my name on the deed, I think it is far better to pay monthly rent and live in a clean new building with an easy commute." B added: "Living space is one of the most important factors determining quality of life, and it is something I never want to give up."
Travel and hobbies over property: spending on life now
Some young adults without children, or with no plans for them, spend heavily on enjoying life now rather than pouring every asset into buying a home. Instead of cutting spending for years to secure a home, they keep housing costs manageable through monthly rent while traveling abroad or pursuing hobbies. Leftover funds sometimes go into financial assets.
In the past, marrying, raising children and gradually moving into larger homes was seen as the natural course of life. But as marriage and childbirth come later and family structures grow more varied, some now question whether they need to spend so much on buying a home. Rather than believing they must own one, they place more weight on spending to raise their current quality of life.
Buying homes and shops at auction: property investment with leverage
While some young adults strategically avoid buying, others strategically buy homes and commercial units using leverage. The approach involves purchasing property through auctions and similar channels, reducing the equity required and borrowing the rest. For them, property is less a place to live than an investment.
Auctions attract interest because of the chance to win a bid below the going market price. Buyers combine their own funds with loans to acquire a property, then collect rental income or sell for a gain if prices rise. Moving a larger pool of assets with a small amount of capital makes this a different style of asset management from investing in financial products.
Interest extends beyond residential property to income-generating assets such as commercial units, because leasing them can create cash flow. The more heavily buyers rely on loans, however, the greater their exposure to interest rates, vacancies and swings in property prices. The amount they can actually borrow varies with income, existing debt, the type of property, the location and the lender's review.
Buying to lease short term: from a home to live in to a home that earns
Some buy a home and, instead of living in it, run it as a short-term rental or an Airbnb listing to generate income. They might purchase a home and lease out part of it separately from their own living space, or offer the entire property as lodging for foreign tourists and others. Videos sharing ways to maximize Airbnb earnings are plentiful on YouTube and elsewhere online.
For them, a home is not merely an asset they hold. It is an income-producing asset that generates cash flow through rent or nightly fees. They treat property as an active investment vehicle, collecting rental income each month while also looking for gains in value if prices rise.
Rules, registration and reporting requirements for short-term lodging can differ by type of home, location and how it is operated. Operating costs including vacancy rates, management fees, cleaning charges and platform commissions must also be weighed. Ultimately it is a form of investment that requires looking beyond the purchase to whether the economics hold up once actual lodging demand and costs are taken into account.
Young adults hold about 50 million won; the average Seoul apartment costs 1.6 billion
Not every renter has chosen not to buy. Many want to buy but realistically cannot. According to the 2024 Survey on the Lives of Young Adults, conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs and Hankook Research at the request of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the average individual assets of a young adult came to about 50.12 million won. Average debt stood at 16.37 million won, and the average monthly pretax income of employed young adults was about 2.66 million won. The survey covered 15,098 people aged 19 to 34 across the country's 17 provinces and metropolitan cities.
For young adults holding assets in the 50 million won range, buying an apartment in Seoul without help from their parents is all but impossible. According to KB Real Estate's nationwide housing price survey for September 2026, the average sale price of a Seoul apartment was 1.62469 billion won ($1.1 million). A simple comparison with the average individual assets of a young adult puts that at roughly 32 times as much. Factoring in acquisition tax, moving costs, maintenance and other incidental expenses pushes the actual burden higher. Even with a loan-to-value ratio of 70% available to first-time buyers, the math remains difficult. For those only a few years into their careers, even the down payment and acquisition-related costs are a strain.
Between rent, stocks and auctions: a new asset formula for the young
The housing choices of young adults resist a single explanation. Some pay monthly rent so they can put home-buying money into stocks and ETFs. Others pay rent to live in a better home while enjoying travel and hobbies. Still others use loans to buy homes or commercial units at auction in hopes of a return. And some have no choice but to rent, hemmed in by high prices and limited equity.
Housing choices among the young, in other words, no longer divide along ownership alone. More important than whether to buy is where to allocate limited income and assets. Whether to accept housing costs as a fixed expense and preserve capacity to invest, to use loans to build property holdings, or to prioritize current quality of life depends on each person's income, asset size and tolerance for risk.
A home remains an important asset. But it does not mean the same thing to every young adult. For some it is a goal they must reach; for others, a decision to tie up a large sum in one place. For still others it is an investment that produces income. The formula of saving your salary to buy a home still holds, but the era of believing it is the only answer is passing.
