Koreans Are Selling Stocks to Buy Seoul Apartments — Gangnam Leading

An estimated 3.7 trillion won in stock and bond proceeds flowed into the housing market in the first four months of 2026, with 65 percent of that total — roughly 2.44 trillion won — directed at Seoul properties.

The figures come from housing fund-disclosure filings compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and submitted to Rep. Kim Jong-yang of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Land and Transport Committee. The disclosures, which buyers must file within 30 days of signing a contract, cover all transactions in regulated zones and any property priced at 600 million won or above in unregulated areas.

Within Seoul, the bulk of the inflows landed in the three Gangnam-area districts: Gangnam-gu (370.7 billion won), Songpa-gu (353.2 billion won), and Seocho-gu (290.4 billion won). Analysts attribute the trend to investors realizing gains from a recent domestic stock market rally and rotating that capital into high-end residential property — a reversal of the conventional view that equities and real estate compete for the same investment pool.

By age group, buyers in their 30s accounted for the largest share, deploying 1.26 trillion won in stock and bond proceeds during the January–April period.

Rep. Kim said: "President Lee Jae-myung has been calling for a more active stock market as an alternative investment channel to ease the concentration of money in real estate — but the reality is that people are selling their stocks to buy houses. The government must take seriously the movement of capital market funds into real estate and reconsider its property policy direction."

South Korea's housing fund-disclosure system (자금조달계획서) requires buyers to itemize the source of purchase funds — stocks, loans, savings — creating a paper trail that lawmakers use to track capital flows into real estate.

mandatory home-purchase financing disclosure form revealing where buyers sourced their money