Apartment complexes are seen near the Han River in Seoul in this file photo taken on Jan. 5. Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

Fewer people in their 20s and 30s purchased apartments here last year amid the steeply rising interest rates and falling housing prices, in an unexpected twist for the age groups who drove a panic buying spree between 2020 and 2021.

According to data from Korea Real Estate Board, the two age groups accounted for only 28.4 percent of those who purchased apartments nationwide for the first 11 months of 2022. This figure is a drop of 2.6 percentage points from 2021, when the figure reached 31 percent.

In Seoul, those in the young age bracket accounted for 34.1 percent of the total number of apartment purchases between January and November last year. This is a drastic decline compared to 41.7 percent in 2021.