Seoul: The number of homeowners in South Korea increased by 2 percent on-year in 2023, with female ownership showing a steady rise, government data showed Monday. The total number of people with home ownership registrations reached 15.62 million last year, up by 309,000 compared with the previous year. According to Yonhap News Agency, the data by Statistics Korea indicated that 7.2 million were female homeowners, making up 46.2 percent of the total. The ratio has been on a gradual rise, increasing from 45.2 percent in 2020 to 45.6 percent in 2021, and 45.9 percent in 2022. Among all homeowners, 2.34 million people, or 15 percent, owned two or more properties. The proportion of multiple homeowners peaked in 2019 at 15.9 percent but has since declined, falling to 15.1 percent in 2021 and 14.9 percent in 2022. Regionally, the southern island of Jeju recorded the highest percentage of multiple homeowners at 20.3 percent, followed by South Chungcheong Province at 17.7 percent. In contrast, the percentage was re latively low in Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province, where it stood at 14 percent. The data also highlighted that 13.3 million people owned only one property, representing 85 percent of all homeowners. In terms of age distribution, homeowners in their 50s accounted for the largest share at 25.2 percent, followed by those in their 60s with 22.8 percent, 40s with 21.2 percent, and 70s with 12 percent. The number of first-time homebuyers reached 719,000 in 2023. In contrast, 306,000 people sold their homes and no longer owned any property during the same period.