"Sold Stocks to Buy a Home in Gangnam"... 3.7 Trillion Won Flows into Housing Market

2.4 Trillion Won Flows Into Seoul Housing Market
Stock Sale Proceeds from Those in Their 30s Lead the Way

This year, 3.7 trillion won in funds raised from the sale of stocks and bonds has flowed into the housing market. Of this amount, approximately 65%, or 2.4 trillion won, was used to purchase homes in Seoul, mainly concentrated in the three Gangnam districts.

According to data compiled from housing purchase funding plans submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to the office of Assemblyman Kim Jongyang, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, a total of 3,725,494,000,000 won from the sale of stocks and bonds was used as housing purchase funds between January and April of this year.

The housing purchase funding plan is a document that discloses the source of funds when buying a home. It must be submitted within 30 days of the contract date to the relevant local government for all housing transactions in regulated areas (speculative overheated districts and adjustment target areas) and for transactions of homes priced at 600 million won or more in non-regulated areas.

Jamsil Apartment. Photo by Jo Yongjun

Of the funds raised by selling stocks and bonds to purchase homes, 65.5% (2,439,631,000,000 won) was spent on buying homes in Seoul. Notably, about 1 trillion won flowed into the three Gangnam districts: Gangnam-gu (370,691,000,000 won), Songpa-gu (353,151,000,000 won), and Seocho-gu (290,382,000,000 won).

This year, the proportion of stock and bond sale proceeds used for purchasing high-priced homes worth 1.5 billion won or more has also increased significantly. By housing price bracket, the share of stock and bond sale proceeds used for the purchase of homes priced at "1.5 billion won or more" was 3.2% in 2020, 4.9% in 2021, 4.5% in 2022, 4.1% in 2023, 4.6% in 2024, and 4.7% in 2025, remaining within 5%.

However, this year, the percentage was 9.3% in January, 9.3% from February 1-9, 9.1% from February 10-28, 9.8% in March, and it rose to 13.2% in April. The February figures are divided because, starting from contracts signed on February 10, proceeds from the sale of virtual assets became a separate reportable item.

This trend is interpreted as the result of investment profits realized from the recent strength in the domestic stock market being channeled into the high-end housing market. While the stock market and real estate market are often viewed as alternative investment destinations for funds, recently, profits from rising stock prices have been flowing into the real estate market.

By age group, those in their 30s accounted for the largest inflow of stock and bond sale proceeds. Between January and April this year, the amount used by those in their 30s was tallied at 1,259,243,000,000 won. They were followed by those in their 40s (1,108,681,000,000 won), those in their 50s (802,212,000,000 won), those aged 60 and above (489,315,000,000 won), those in their 20s (65,935,000,000 won), and those under 20 (1,080,000,000 won).

Assemblyman Kim Jongyang said, "President Lee Jaemyung has called for the revitalization of the stock market as an alternative investment vehicle to resolve the concentration of funds in the real estate market, but in reality, people are selling stocks to buy homes. The government needs to recognize the seriousness of capital flowing from the capital market into real estate and reconsider its real estate policy direction."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.