Mid-to-Low-Priced Single-Home Owners Face Retirement and Asset Growth Challenges

The lecturer defined mid-to-low-priced homes as those in the early 1 billion won range, and explained that homes under 1 billion won are concentrated in the price bracket typical of 'less prime' areas.

Even those who have diligently repaid their mortgages may be unable to borrow more under the stricter loan rules expected ahead, making upgrades impossible. Voices are calling for early action before the opportunity to move up disappears.

Even for those with repaid loans and good cash flow, finding undervalued homes to move into is important. The explanation was that a 1.5 billion won home with many development catalysts can be expected to see greater value growth over the long term than one without them.

This could also limit their use of reverse mortgages, so a more strategic approach to asset growth was emphasized.

To cover university fees and tutoring for their child, the student sold their Banpo home and moved into rented housing. The child passed the retake exam and entered a good school, but the parents now find it hard to buy back a Banpo apartment, and their retirement preparation has become uncertain. This shows the risk of depleting one's own retirement assets while focusing on children's education.

It was emphasized that selling a home requires as much special skill as buying one. Buying can be decided with your own funds, but selling only happens when someone else buys. It is therefore important to accurately understand potential buyers' characteristics and demand, to match what they prefer, and to decide on the optimal timing.

The gain in home prices can differ greatly depending on when a home is sold. In particular, for those planning to sell after June 1 next year, there is a possibility they will have to sell without fully capturing the price gains from the autumn moving season this year and the spring moving season next year. Because the sales process can take two to three months or more, it was pointed out that the autumn moving season may be too close to fully benefit from the rising market.

The current DSR cap is set at 60%, but loan limits could change sharply depending on a single presidential remark, which could work against those who must rely heavily on loans to move to higher-tier areas. Therefore, rather than focusing on home price gains, it is more important to identify a time when loans can be used stably, and rather than worrying that selling will be difficult, one should actively use selling skill to respond.

Otherwise, one could lose their home and also fail to enter the higher tier, so strategic pricing and a purchase plan are needed from the start.

Even within the same area, some complexes may rise while others do not, so the focus will be on analyzing these differences and providing investors with practical information.

The advice was to judge the burden by considering the public land value and the rise in the fair market value ratio when calculating taxes.

The basic deduction for this tax is set at 400 million won, so even if the combined share of two homes is just under 1 billion won, owners may have to pay the tax because it exceeds the deduction. By contrast, those who hold only one home may not be subject to the tax at all, raising the question of whether paying it is necessary. It was stressed that as holding taxes rise every year, paying tax on unrealized gains could feel like a heavier pressure than expected.

After this point, the number of people who will buy homes is likely to shrink further, and upgrading is expected to become much harder than it is now. The advice was to treat this point as an important turning point when planning home purchases and sales.

It was noted that it is uncertain whether the tax reform currently under discussion will pass the National Assembly, and that real estate policy is likely to change again depending on the results of the next general election. In such an uncertain market, individual decision-making was stressed as very important. The key is not to predict policy changes, but to make sound judgments while keeping the possibility of change in mind.

A warning was issued that avoiding upgrades or home purchases out of fear of falling prices could lead to greater long-term asset losses. Even if home prices fall temporarily, people are likely to keep postponing a purchase, thinking prices will fall further. As a result, five or ten years later, they may be unable to afford the home they want to buy, which leads to having no asset at all, and this would ultimately be a major loss.

In the past, when 20-pyeong apartments rose, 30-pyeong apartments followed, and when 30-pyeong rose, 40-pyeong rose too, with a chain-like pattern of price increases. Recently, however, this trend has weakened, and prices for 20-pyeong and 30-pyeong apartments are observed to be moving nearly in lockstep nationwide.

Using this approach was explained to greatly reduce the burden of additional contributions, making it advantageous for investors.

Although this complex has tended to move late, both its 40-pyeong and 30-pyeong units rose by a large 500 million won over the past three years. This suggests that apartments in certain areas can show high growth rates in a short period.

In particular, for reforms that reduce the benefits for registered rental operators, retroactive application could raise constitutional concerns, so it is important to check whether they pass the National Assembly.

In particular, non-homeowners are expected to actively enter the market to buy their first home, forming a market unlike before. This was analyzed as a 'survival-driven sales' market that goes beyond simple price increases, in which whether one owns a home will have a major impact on personal survival.