Young Koreans Dump Homeowner Dreams to Pile Into Soaring Stocks

South Koreans are piling into equities at a record pace as they retreat from an overheating housing market — a shift that’s underscoring policymakers’ struggle to cool housing prices and ease discontent over affordability.

Koreans using borrowed money to bet on domestic stocks jumped to all-time high of 26.8 trillion won ($18 billion) on Nov. 20, according to the Korea Financial Investment Association. Meanwhile, Koreans’ overseas securities holdings also climbed to a record $1.21 trillion at the end of the third quarter, Bank of Korea data show.