Seo Eun-hee, Seocho District Mayor, Leads 'Reform of the Flawed Housing Official Price System' with Won Hee-ryong, Jeju Province Governor

The government must fully reconsider the public price realization that only leads to tax increases for citizens... Seocho-gu urges the government to freeze unfair housing public prices and conduct a full re-investigation... District Mayor Jo Eun-hee raises her voice, saying, "We must completely reform the current flawed housing public price system that citizens distrust," following efforts to reduce property tax for single-home households.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] On March 15, the government announced an unprecedented nationwide 19.08% increase in official housing prices (proposal), causing a continuous shock to the public and citizens.

In response, Seocho-gu (Mayor Eunhee Cho) plans to jointly request the government to freeze the official housing prices and conduct a joint investigation together with Won Hee-ryong, Governor of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province.

According to the investigation by the Official Price Verification Center in Jeju Province, the standard housing prices announced on January 25 were full of errors. Accordingly, the province has urged local governments nationwide to participate in a full-scale investigation of official housing prices.

Seocho-gu strongly agrees with Jeju Province's proposal and has decided to join forces.

According to this year's government proposal for official housing price increases, the official housing prices in Seocho-gu are expected to rise by 13.53%, further increasing the tax burden on residents.

In 2020, the official prices of apartment complexes surged by 22.5%, causing the district's property tax payments to increase by 72% over three years.

As a result, retired single-homeowners and middle-class citizens, who have no connection to real estate speculation, have been criticized for having to pay taxes by incurring credit card debt, calling it a "penalty rather than a tax."

The official housing prices announced by the government serve not only as the basis for taxes such as property tax and comprehensive real estate tax but also as criteria for basic pensions, basic livelihood security, and health insurance premiums.

Rising official housing prices can impose significant burdens on all citizens, including taxes, basic pensions, livelihood benefits, and health insurance premiums.

In Seocho-gu, although about 7,000 objections were raised by apartment owners regarding the 2020 official housing prices, only a very small portion, about 1%, were accepted.

Seocho-gu pointed out problems such as the basis for calculating current official prices and fairness, stating, "Before realizing the official prices, a fair, transparent, and rational tax policy that the public can trust must precede."

First, the official prices of apartment complexes announced by the government are disclosed without clear grounds for calculation, only showing increased prices in a blind manner.

Second, there is a lack of price equity among the standard houses announced by the government, making it very difficult to accurately calculate individual housing prices.

During last year's COVID-19 situation, Seocho-gu Mayor Eunhee Cho, who promoted a 50% reduction in property tax for single-homeowners with properties under 900 million KRW, stated, "The pain and anxiety of the public caused by this increase in official housing prices are spreading not only in Seoul but nationwide. Together with Governor Won Hee-ryong of Jeju Province, we will unite our intentions to freeze official housing prices and propose to the government to expand the Official Price Verification Center established by Jeju Province nationwide and conduct a full re-investigation of unfair official housing prices."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.