Japanese Millennials Buy Homes With 50-Year Mortgages as Homeownership Rate Hits Record High

Homeownership Rate Among Japanese Households Headed by Those Under 30 Reaches 40.7%

50-Year Mortgages Appear Amid Rising Home Prices and Interest Rates

In Korea, Share of Seoul Apartment Purchases by Buyers in Their 30s Hits Record 40.9%

The homeownership rate among households in their 20s in Japan has exceeded 40%, reaching its highest level since records began.

Photo to aid understanding of the article showing a Japanese woman walking in a residential area in Tokyo on the 2nd. Photo by TASS Yonhap News Agency

According to Yonhap News on September 6, data from the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Household Survey showed that the homeownership rate in 2025 for households with a head under 30 years old and at least two members reached 40.7%. This is the highest figure since statistics were first compiled in 2000. In the early to mid-2000s, the rate hovered just above 20%. After several fluctuations, it remained in the low 30% range from around 2015 to 2023, but in 2024 and 2025, the rate surged consecutively, surpassing the 40% mark.

For a long time, Japan’s younger generation had opted not to buy homes. After the economic bubble burst in the early 1990s, the so-called “invincible property myth”—the belief that real estate prices would always rise—collapsed, and young people showed a strong tendency to avoid the risks associated with purchasing, preferring to pay high rents instead.

However, with real estate prices soaring and Japan shifting away from its near-zero benchmark interest rate policy to raising rates, there is now growing analysis that young households are rushing to purchase homes.

According to the Japan Real Estate Economic Institute, the average price per household for newly built condominiums sold in Tokyo's 23 wards last year reached 136.13 million yen (approximately 1.171 billion KRW), a 21.8% increase in a single year. This marks the third consecutive year that prices exceeded 100 million yen. In the six central wards, the average price climbed to 195.03 million yen (about 1.678 billion KRW). Meanwhile, supply in the metropolitan area was only 21,962 units—the lowest since the survey began in 1973. Additionally, after Japan’s central bank ended its negative interest rate policy in March 2024, it gradually increased interest rates, raising the policy rate to 0.75% in December 2025—the highest since 1995.

Financial institutions fueled these trends by introducing ultra-long-term home loans with maturities of up to 50 years. The "Flat 50" mortgage—jointly serviced by the Japan Housing Finance Agency and private banks—offers a fixed interest rate for the entire 50-year period. To fully utilize the term, applicants must be no older than 30 at the time of application, favoring younger people; moreover, the range of eligible properties was widened in October last year.

Apartment complex in Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, in South Korea, young buyers are also taking the lead in the housing market. According to Korea Real Estate Board statistics by age of buyer, from January to May this year, the share of apartment transactions in Seoul made by people in their 30s reached 40.9%—an all-time high. In April alone, the figure soared to 45.9%, surpassing the previous record of 40.2% set in January 2021. This means that more than four out of every ten apartments sold in Seoul were purchased by people in their 30s.

First-time home purchases are also happening at a faster pace. According to real estate platform Zigbang, in July, the number of first-time collective housing purchases in Seoul reached 7,547—the highest in four years and eight months since November 2021. Among all buyers, the proportion of those in their 20s rose from 10.6% in June to 11.8% in July, while the proportion in their 30s increased from 55.2% to 57.0%. During the same period, purchases by people in their 50s and 60s actually declined.

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