The number of households possessing their homes was 12,063,000 in 2021, up 2.8 percent from the previous year, according to Statistics Korea. It accounted for 56.2 percent of the country's 21.4 million total households.
The higher home owners came as people hurried to buy new homes with borrowed money.
The country's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate twice in 2021 from a record low of 0.5 percent to 1.0 percent, but it remained near a record-low level.
The number of households without their own homes also increased 2.1 percent over the year to 189,000 in 2021. It was attributable to the rising number of single-member households and the surging housing prices.
Among the single-member households, only 30.6 percent owned their homes in 2021. It was much lower than 74.6 percent for households with five or more members and 73.7 percent for households composed of couples and their unmarried children.
The percentage of households in their 70s who possessed their homes stood at 70.4 percent in 2021, followed by 67.9 percent for households in their 60s and 63.9 percent for those in their 50s, respectively.
Among the total home owners, 26.1 percent was multiple home owners last year.
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