By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
Start saving all you earn from now, and you'll be able to buy a home in Seoul in September 2020.
At least, that was the prognosis, Thursday, after a recent report said that an average-salaried resident in the capital will need to save for 11 years and six months to get his or her own apartment ― longer than before.
Although prices of Seoul apartments have fallen slightly since last autumn due to the global financial slowdown, a steep drop in household income makes it harder for those who live in the city to purchase homes, Budongsan Serve, a local real estate consultancy, said.
Prices for a 109-square-meter apartment in Seoul currently average 528.1 million won ($355,000), up 0.3 percent from six months ago. Monthly wages of the city's workers, on the other hand, fell 4.1 percent to 3.8 million won during the same period.
The tendency was common in Gangnam and elsewhere. Four districts in Gangnam, the nation's hottest real estate market, posted a five-month rise in the home-buying period to 16 years and four months. The figure was nine years and 11 months in districts other than Gangnam, up three months from six months ago, with Jongno-gu jumping most, from 10 years and four months to 11 years.
Most Seoulites are likely to feel the pinch more acutely than before, Budongsan Serve said.
"The outcome can be construed to Seoul's apartment prices remaining firm, despite a possible drop in sales. It all comes down to the matter of income in the end," said Park Joon-ho, a consultant at the company.
"The average wage is equal to the level of the whole country's highest-earning 35 percent. To middle-income households, the burden will seem much heavier."