2025 is the first year our country has entered a super-aged society. This means that one in five citizens is aged 65 or older. As we face this super-aged society, a new issue is emerging in the real estate market: "empty houses." Homes previously occupied by seniors are inherited after their death, but it is difficult for children who have left to find jobs in Seoul or other regions to manage them. Selling these homes is even harder. Consequently, the empty houses, devoid of human touch, are rapidly deteriorating and turning into a headache that slumifies entire neighborhoods. However, there are no clear solutions for the empty house issue. We seek to explore what efforts our society should make to address the problem of empty houses. [Editor’s note]
On Dec. 23 last year, as I climbed the steep hill in Cheonghak-dong, Yeongdo District, Busan, I encountered an elderly woman, Kim Myung-hwa (pseudonym, 78). She pointed to an alleyway with empty houses. Having lived in the neighborhood for a long time, Ms. Kim said, "There’s an empty house at the end of this alley," and noted, "It wouldn’t be difficult to find empty houses in this neighborhood." The number of empty houses she mentioned was hard to count on ten fingers.
Upon visiting one of the empty houses in the neighborhood, I found the front gate firmly locked. It was tied shut with thick wire, and planks were added to the gate to prevent outsiders from entering. Over the wall, dense weeds were visible, proving that the house had no owner.
Passing through a narrow alleyway wide enough for one adult, I arrived at another empty house with broken windows. In front of the gate, which was filled with glass shards, there was a rusty mailbox stuffed with faded mail. It appeared that it had been quite a while since the owner's touch was last felt. A warning sign that read "Do not litter" seemed pointless as trash was piled up against the wall.
The situation in Yeongseon-dong, Yeongdo District, was not much different. This area, famous for the Heonyeoul Cultural Village, a film filming location, was bustling with tourists, but neglected empty houses were visible everywhere. The oldest apartment in Yeongdo, marked with a sign as a "dangerous structure," was nearly vacant, with only two of the 270 units reported to still be occupied. A resident in his 40s who runs a supermarket in the neighborhood said, "I’ve heard that one or two elderly people are still living in the apartment."
◇Busan, a surge in empty houses due to aging and job shortages
The shock of empty houses resulting from aging and a lack of jobs has hit Busan. The number of empty houses in Busan now stands at 114,245 units (according to Statistics Korea). That equates to one in ten dwellings being vacant. This is not merely a problem for Busan; empty houses are rapidly increasing across the country, with the total rising to 1,534,919 last year. Dwellings that have been unoccupied for over a year amount to 387,326.
A Busan city official noted, "There are empty houses in places like Haeundae District, but as development is actively underway, even if there are many empty houses, there is potential for solutions. However, in the historical downtown areas where development needs are low, the issue of empty houses is becoming increasingly serious."
Residents of Yeongdo District who feel the increase in empty houses cited aging and job issues as the causes. A resident in her 70s living in Cheonghak-dong explained, "After the Korean War, people taking refuge here built houses, leading to many unlicensed buildings. When residents of these places pass away or face difficulties and move away, the houses become empty." A resident in his 60s added, "Companies are continuously leaving Busan, causing young people to go up to find jobs," stating, "Both my kids have gone to Seoul."
Shin Young-hee (pseudonym), a woman in her 40s who has been running a convenience store in Yeongdo District for seven years, said, "While the circumstances around each empty house differ, it seems to be the case that this area has many elderly residents. There used to be some shops in Cheonghak-dong, but from about two years ago, many unable to withstand COVID-19 closed, leading to a halt in development of empty houses as tourist numbers dwindled."
◇The spreading empty houses…deteriorating hygiene and aesthetics
As the number of abandoned empty houses increases, the living environment in Yeongdo District is also deteriorating. Issues such as the decline in hygiene due to illegal dumping of trash and urban aesthetic degradation from unkempt houses are prominent. There is a potential for collapses of empty houses and an increased risk of crime. A resident from Cheonghak-dong mentioned, "I tend to use the main roads rather than walk near empty houses."
As the living environment worsens, there is a vicious cycle where surrounding property values decline, which troubles the residents of Yeongdo District. Kim Sun-mi (pseudonym, 59), who has run a real estate agency in the area for a long time, remarked, "After my parents passed away, their house became vacant, and now the children ask me to sell it," adding, "Due to the abundance of old empty houses, some may require complete demolition rather than remodeling, with prices going for less than 300,000 won per pyeong."
Kim added, "Regarding empty houses, owners often don't state a price but instead ask how much they can get," explaining that while houses with sea views or those close to the road have a better chance of a transaction, most are in twisting alleys where even lowering the price doesn’t attract buyers. He cautiously mentioned, "Recently, there have been discussions about the many empty houses in this neighborhood, which is affecting property prices, making residents unhappy."
Empty houses also pose a problem as they reduce the incentive for the government or local governments to invest in improving residential infrastructure, hindering regional development.
Generally, empty houses tend to cluster; when one appears, there is a greater likelihood that others will follow. This is where the so-called broken windows theory applies. The theory suggests that if a broken window is left unattended, disorder and crime will begin to spread from that point. Ultimately, empty houses accelerate the decline of communities and reduce the number of residents in the area, making governments and local authorities reluctant to invest in large-scale infrastructure for the diminishing population.
A resident in his 50s living in Yeongdo commented, "There’s only one bus passing through the neighborhood, and to get to the city center, you have to walk down the hill for a while before a bus arrives," saying, "While residents used to request more bus services when the area was more inhabited, now such requests are no longer even being made."