Journal of the Korean Housing Association ISSN:2234-3571(Print) 2234-2257(Online) 한국주거학회논문집

The purpose of this research is to analyze the wealth effects of home-owning baby-boomers on household consumption on non-durable goods in the Seoul Metropolitan Area. In so doing, this empirical study utilized the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) of 2002 and 2012. The statistical findings reveal that household wealth in the period had sharply risen in household income, asset, debt and consumption, and the substantial increase came from growing income and consumption embedded into an expansionary stage of the family life cycle. Further, housing wealth had a much greater effect on consumption expenditure than did financial asset in 2012 while financial wealth effect was larger than housing wealth effect in 2002. Housing wealth effects had become far stronger as the age of the baby-boomer householders increased. As the baby-boomers are close to the retirement stage, post-retirement income security becomes of concern, so that the wealth effect of real estate income as an income alternative for retirees is explicit. The results imply that retirement of baby-boomers is likely to reduce consumer spending, aggravating slowdown of the real economy. Thus, diversification of household asset portfolio in a pre-retirement period is of great significance in maintaining adequate household consumption in later life.