Korean retail investors' profits from stock trading flood into the luxury housing market, with over 3.7 trillion Korean won in stock and bond funds shifting to the Seoul real estate market in the first four months of this year According to BlockBeats, on June 16th, with the AI wave driving up the stock prices of tech giants such as SK Hynix, the South Korean stock market has continued to strengthen this year, and retail investors have shifted their focus to the high-end real estate market after taking profits. According to data from the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, from January to April 2026, approximately 3.7 trillion Korean won (equivalent to about 16.5 billion yuan) of the funds obtained by South Korean residents from selling stocks and bonds flowed into residential purchases, with 65.5%, or about 2.4 trillion Korean won, concentrated in Seoul and highly concentrated in core affluent areas such as Gangnam gu (370.7 billion Korean won), Songpo gu (353.2 billion Korean won), and Ruicao gu (290.4 billion Korean won). High priced luxury homes have become the preferred target for funds. The proportion of realized funds from stocks and bonds used to purchase high priced residential properties worth over 1.5 billion Korean won (equivalent to approximately 6.7 million RMB) has been consistently below 5% between 2020 and 2025, but has rapidly increased this year: 9.3% in January, 9.8% in March, and 13.2% in April, breaking through double digits for the first time, nearly tripling the average of previous years. The 30-year-old group has become the largest force in buying houses. In the first four months of this year, the 30-year-old group used stock and bond funds to purchase houses, with a scale of 125.9 billion Korean won (approximately 5.6 billion yuan), surpassing the 40 year old (110.9 billion Korean won), 50 year old (80.2 billion Korean won), and 60 year old and above (48.9 billion Korean won) groups, ranking first among all age groups. At the same time, the proportion of first-time homebuyers in Seoul's mixed use buildings has reached 45.6% from January to May this year, a historic high since 2010, with over 50% of first-time homebuyers being in the 30-year-old group. However, behind the wealth effect of the stock market, the wealth gap continues to intensify. The Gini coefficient of overall net assets in South Korea has risen from 0.584 in 2017 to 0.625 in 2025, reaching the highest level since statistics began in 2012. The Bank of Korea warns that rising housing prices have led to asset polarization and solidification, coupled with the further widening income gap due to the widespread use of AI. The economic status of the homeless and young people is clearly declining. In households with both net assets and income in the bottom 20%, the proportion of the 20-30 age group has increased from 7.9% in 2020 to 15.2% in 2025, almost doubling in five years. [Original link]