44% of singles say it is impossible to buy house

More than four out of 10 unmarried people believe they will at some point in their lives need to purchase a home but at the same time feel it is impossible to do so, a survey showed Tuesday. / Gettyimagesbank

By Kim Jae-heun

More than four out of 10 unmarried people believe they will at some point in their lives need to purchase a home but at the same time feel it is impossible to do so, a survey showed Tuesday.

The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) conducted the survey on 3,002 single men and women aged between 25 and 39 in August and September last year.

Over 45 percent said home ownership was a must, however, 44 percent said this was practically impossible due to soaring housing prices.

Just 10.7 percent said home ownership was not important.

Opinions about the possibility of purchasing a home differed between residents of different regions. Over 47 percent of respondents in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area including Gyeonggi Province and Incheon said purchasing a home was an unattainable goal at their age, higher than the 41.8 percent in other metropolitan cities and 39.1 percent in smaller cities and provincial towns.

“Expensive housing prices in metropolitan areas have affected people's understanding about housing purchases,” the report said.

People with parents in the high-income bracket were less pessimistic about buying housing: 53,7 percent said home ownership was necessary, but this dropped to 45.2 percent and 37.7 percent for those whose parents were in the middle-income and lower-income brackets.