35 Years of Salary for a Home? The Housing Reality in Seoul and Jakarta

Two ordinary workers, two Asian capitals, and a question that reaches far beyond property prices: Can young people still afford to build a future?

Seoul: A Steady Job, but an Expensive Dream

Imagine a 32-year-old office worker in Seoul.

After several years of working, the employee has a stable job, saves money every month, and hopes to buy an apartment someday.

The salary is not particularly unusual.

According to South Korea’s national wage statistics, the average monthly income of wage employees in December 2024 was KRW 3.75 million, equivalent to approximately KRW 45 million per year when multiplied by twelve.

The median monthly income was lower, at KRW 2.88 million.

Now consider the price of a home.

According to KB Real Estate’s August 2026 survey, the average apartment sale price in Seoul reached approximately KRW 1.607 billion. The citywide median was approximately KRW 1.292 billion.

For someone earning the national average wage, the average Seoul apartment costs approximately 35.7 years of annual salary.

That calculation assumes every won of income could be saved. It ignores taxes, living expenses, inflation, mortgages, and interest.

It is not a realistic prediction of how long buying a home would take.

But it reveals the distance between ordinary earnings and the capital’s housing market.

Buy, Rent, or Move Away?

For many young Korean workers, buying a home is not the only difficult decision.

Renting can also require substantial savings.

South Korea has a distinctive rental system called jeonse, in which tenants provide a large refundable deposit instead of making ordinary monthly rent payments. Monthly rentals are another common option.

Even without purchasing an apartment, a young adult may need considerable money to live independently.

Some choose smaller homes. Others move farther from central Seoul, commute longer distances, or continue living with family while saving.

Housing decisions can also influence plans for marriage and children.

South Korea’s total fertility rate was 0.80 in 2025. Although births have recently increased, the country’s long-term demographic challenges remain significant.

Housing costs are not the sole cause of low birth rates. Employment security, childcare expenses, working culture, and personal preferences also matter.

Still, it is difficult to separate the idea of starting a family from the question of where that family will live.

For a young Seoul worker, the dream may no longer be simply owning an apartment.

It may be having enough financial stability to make the next life decision.

Jakarta: A Younger City Facing a Familiar Question

Now imagine a 30-year-old employee working in Jakarta.

The worker wants a home, perhaps close to the office, but also needs money for transportation, food, family responsibilities, and savings.

Jakarta’s official statistics agency reported that formal-sector employees earned an average monthly net wage of approximately IDR 5.90 million in 2025.

That is about IDR 70.84 million a year when multiplied by twelve.

What does a home cost?

Unlike Seoul’s apartment-focused market statistics, Jakarta does not have one straightforward figure covering all housing types and neighborhoods.

Its property market includes apartments, landed houses, older residential areas, and newer developments with widely varying prices.

For one concrete example, property platform Rumah123 showed a median advertised house price of approximately IDR 2.4 billion in Cakung, East Jakarta, in an August 2025 listing snapshot.

Divide that example price by the average annualized formal-sector net wage, and the result is approximately 33.9 years of income.

Again, this is not an estimate of the actual time needed to purchase a home.

The price is a district-level listing figure rather than a Jakarta-wide transaction average. The salary figure is the capital’s formal-sector net wage. This calculation cannot be directly compared with Seoul’s apartment-price-to-national-wage ratio.

Nevertheless, it illustrates a familiar challenge: a working salary does not necessarily translate into an affordable home.

The Mortgage and Rental Reality

Many Indonesian buyers use a mortgage called Kredit Pemilikan Rumah, or KPR.

According to Bank Indonesia’s residential property survey, KPR accounted for 74.41% of financing for new-home purchases in the surveyed primary market in the third quarter of 2025.

That does not mean 74% of Indonesians have a mortgage. It refers specifically to how purchases in the surveyed new-housing market were financed.

Renting is another part of Jakarta’s housing reality.

According to Statistics Indonesia’s 2025 housing data, approximately 55% of Jakarta households lived in owner-occupied homes, while around 21% lived in rented accommodation. Other households lived under different arrangements, including rent-free accommodation.

For a young worker, the decision may involve more than choosing between buying and renting.

Is it better to live closer to work and pay more? Should they move to a suburban area where property may be cheaper? Should they continue living with relatives and save for a larger deposit?

These are personal decisions shaped by income, family circumstances, and the realities of a rapidly changing city.

Two Cities, One Generation Thinking About Tomorrow

Seoul and Jakarta are not identical housing markets.

Their income levels, housing types, financing systems, and demographic structures differ significantly.

The numerical examples above also use different data definitions, so they should not be treated as a definitive affordability ranking.

Yet the two cities share an important human question.

Can a young person with a regular job still afford to build an independent life?

In South Korea, expensive housing adds to wider concerns about marriage, parenthood, and long-term financial security.

Indonesia remains much younger demographically, and its national total fertility rate was 2.13 in 2025.

But Jakarta’s fertility rate was only 1.79, below the population-replacement level.

That does not prove that expensive housing is responsible for the city’s demographic changes. However, it shows that Indonesia’s capital is also experiencing social and demographic transitions that deserve attention.

The future of housing is therefore not only about real estate prices.

It is also about access to suitable homes, stable employment, realistic financing, reliable rental options, and whether younger generations feel confident enough to make long-term plans.

A home should offer more than a place to sleep.

It should offer space to imagine a future.

The real housing crisis begins when working people stop asking, “Which home can I afford?” and start asking, “Can I afford the life I want?”