With the average sale price of a 59-square-meter apartment in Seoul approaching 1.6 billion won (approximately $1.2 million), South Koreans in their 20s and 30s who cannot afford the remaining balance even after winning the housing lottery are closing their subscription accounts en masse. Through August of this year, account closures among the 2030 generation have outpaced new openings by more than 80,000 accounts.
According to data submitted by the Korea Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) to Democratic Party lawmaker Mo Kyung-jong’s office on October 10, the 2030 generation opened 670,000 new housing subscription accounts between January and August this year. Over the same period, 750,000 accounts were closed — 80,000 more closures than new openings.
The net decline in 2030-generation subscription accounts has been widening each year, growing from 50,000 accounts in 2024 to 70,000 in 2025. This year, the figure through August has already surpassed last year’s full-year net decline. During the housing downturn of 2023, when Seoul apartment prices fell 7.7% in 2022 and 2.2% in 2023, the net decline reached as high as 200,000 accounts.
The concerning trend is that young adults continue to exit even as home prices in the Seoul metropolitan area are rising again. In past downturns, account closures were driven by diminished expectations of price appreciation, but the current exodus is occurring during an upswing in home prices.
The most direct reason young people are leaving subscription accounts is the level of sale prices. According to an analysis of Korea Real Estate Board data by Real House, a specialized presale valuation firm, the average sale price of a 59-square-meter apartment sold in Seoul as of August this year was 1.59343 billion won (approximately $1.2 million).
Given that the maximum mortgage loan limit in the Seoul metropolitan area and regulated zones is 600 million won (approximately $450,000), buyers would need to come up with roughly 1 billion won (approximately $750,000) in cash even with maximum borrowing. In effect, winning the housing lottery does not mean being able to pay the balance.
Young Capital Flowing into the Stock Market
Young adults who have concluded that homeownership is out of reach are pivoting from subscription accounts to stock investments.
According to data submitted by eight South Korean securities firms — Mirae Asset Securities, Korea Investment & Securities, NH Investment & Securities, KB Securities, Kiwoom Securities, Shinhan Securities, Hana Securities, and Samsung Securities — to People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jae-seop’s office, the 2030 generation’s annual stock trading volume increased 26.4% from 1,043 trillion won (approximately $778.3 billion) in 2023 to 1,318 trillion won (approximately $983.6 billion) in 2025. In the first half of this year alone, trading volume surpassed 1,710 trillion won (approximately $1.3 trillion), already exceeding last year’s full-year total.
Experts point out that stemming the exodus of young adults from housing subscription accounts requires both expanding housing supply in the Seoul metropolitan area and implementing policies to narrow the gap between sale prices and incomes. They argue that institutional reforms are needed to make housing subscription accounts more effective.