가구 44%는 무주택…상위 10% 집값은 하위 10%의 32배<br /><br />Latest Data shows about 55-percent of the nation's households own at least one house.<br />In other words, more than four out of ten do not own a place to live.<br />Our Ko Roon-hee help us look beyond the digits. <br />Data released by Statistics Korea on Friday shows that more than 44% of South Korean households do not own their homes. <br />As of November 1st 2017, the home ownership rate of households stood at 55-point-9 percent... which marks a 0-point-4 percentage point increase from the previous year. <br /> Breaking it down by city, households in Seoul had the lowest home ownership rate of just 49-point-2 percent. <br />The report also showed the wide difference in house prices.<br />Based on the price as of January 1st this year, the average price in the bottom 10-percent of house prices was around 22-thousand dollars.<br />And the average in the top 10-percent was around 719-thousand U.S. dollars...which is more than 32 times that of the bottom 10-percent. <br />An economic expert says this is a reflection of the stark differences in living conditions across the nation's housing market. <br />"Polarization of housing prices means a polarization of residential environments. <br />To solve this issue, the South Korean government has been working to improve the living conditions or increase the housing supply in areas where lower-priced houses are located. However, I am not sure if this has been that effective."<br />Meanwhile, to ease the housing problem, the South Korean government announced last August it would build 300-thousand extra homes to curb soaring house prices.<br />And in September, it revealed the specific housing sites where 35-thousand of these homes would be built. <br />Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News. <br />
