Home ownership rates of middle- and lower-income families dipped in 2014 from two years earlier while numbers for the affluent rose, a government report showed Thursday, an indication that sluggish economic conditions have hurt the have-nots more than the rich.
According to the national data made public every other year, home ownership among lower-income earners stood at 50 percent last year compared to 52.9 percent in 2012. Among middle-income earners, the number dipped to 56.4 percent from 56.8 percent, while for people classified as affluent, 77.7 percent owned homes, up from 72.8 percent two years earlier.
The data, provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport based on interviews of 20,000 households nationwide, bolsters the argument that the economic slowdown has hurt the middle- and lower-income families more than the rich.
The latest report showed that the percentage of people living in jeonse homes, or rental arrangements in which tenants pay a lump-sum deposit up front, fell to 45 percent from 49.5 percent, while those paying monthly rent jumped to 55 percent from 50.5 percent.
While the shift from jeonse to monthly rent may be natural when interest rates are low for deposits, such a trend erodes disposable income for households.
The drop in home ownership and jeonse affected the average period that a person or family lived in the same home. In the 2012 report, the average time spent in a residence reached 8.6 years, but this fell to 7.7 years in 2014.
The data showed that 79.1 percent of all people said they wanted to own a home, which is a drop of 4.6 percentage points from the 83.7 percent reported for 2010.
On the other hand, the data said the number of people living in homes rated as below "minimum living conditions" fell. Minimum living conditions, as defined by the government, take into account the number of people living in a home and the size of the residence.
In 2012, 7.2 percent, or some 1.28 million households, lived in "below-minimum" homes, but this declined to 5.4 percent, or 1 million households, last year.
Reflecting this, the ministry's findings showed the per capita living space rising to 33.1 square meters last year from 31.7 square meters two years earlier.
The report showed the home satisfaction level reaching 2.86 points out of 4, an incremental gain from 2.83 tallied in 2012. The satisfaction rate is the same as in 2006.
The ministry said it will use the collected data in mapping measures to assist lower- and middle-income families and help them move to more affordable long-term rental homes.
Related to the local home market, the ministry said in a separate report that it granted construction permits for 515,000 new dwellings last year, up 17.1 percent from 440,000 units tallied for 2013.
Despite the on-year increase, last year's permit number is roughly 2 percent lower than the average reached in the last three years.
It also said there was a 18.3 percent increase in new housing construction projects started last year, which translates into 508,000 homes being supplied to homebuyers.
Of all building permits, there was a 25.3 percent spike for apartment buildings totaling 344,000 units, with non-apartment houses going up 6 percent, the report showed. (Yonhap)
