South Korea girds for housing glut

Developers, egged-on by interest rates at all-time lows, are building apartments at a record pace, one bright spot in an otherwise sluggish economy. 

But the home-building boom has fueled a surge in borrowing. South Korea’s household debt, already the highest among emerging markets, threatens to choke off consumer spending and has prompted the government to step in to prevent a damaging crash. 

In places like Yongin, the flood of new apartments also means resale prices could suffer.

Birth Rate 

Country	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
South Korea	1.72	1.72	1.72	1.56	1.56	1.26	1.27	1.28	1.2	1.21	1.22	1.23	1.23	1.24	1.25

DYI Comments:  South Korea is now hamstrung by two significant events: 

1.) A huge debt bubble that is about to burst and that in of itself will bring down the economy into a long term recession similar to the U.S.  

2.) A falloff of their birth rate.  Replacement is 2.1 children per women of child bearing age and as you can see from the chart above they are way below that number.  As their elderly pass on South Korea's population momentum will slow to a craw and if the birth rate remains below replacement their overall population will decline.

These two events is what happened to Japan.  A debt bubble popped and a population bust. Its so simple; less buyers and more properties available equals declining prices.  This is what is in store for South Korea as most demographers see no end in sight for their below birth rate.

Anyone who believes that the world will be massively overpopulated are not following the numbers. By the year 2070 or so the world's population will be decline.  Even central Africa populations birth rate despite high is moving downward.

DYI