Housing Costs of Young College Graduate Renters in Capital Region Reflected in the 2012 Korea Housing Survey

This study examined housing costs and housing affordability of young college graduate renters in the Capital Region of Korea using microdata of the 2012 Korea Housing Survey (KHS). A licensed microdata set of 2012 KHS was obtained on September 29, 2012 from the official KHS Website and analyzed statistically. I selected 93,795 young college graduate renters between 20 and 29 years of age in the Capital Region and compared their housing costs across income levels and tenure type. Major findings were as follows: (1) Jeon-se deposit was on average 3.1 times the annual household income and monthly renters' deposit was 7.1 times the monthly household income; (2) households in higher income groups tended to pay a larger deposit and/or monthly rent; however, households with a lower income were found to pay a greater proportion of income to housing costs than households with a relatively higher income; (3) a total of 64% of all young college graduate renters had housing cost burdens to pay 30% or more of their income for housing, and more than 78% of the low-income households were found burdened; and (4) after housing cost payments, low-income households had less than one million KRW left to spend on other needs and savings; in addition, some low-to mid-income households had zero or even minus income left after housing cost payments.