Due to Soaring Housing Prices... 870,000 Households in Seoul Reach 30% Cap on Property Tax

Households with Property Tax Increased up to 30% Cap, from 40,406 in April 2017 to 872,135 This Year... 20 Times Increase

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] It has been revealed that the number of households in Seoul owning homes with a publicly announced price exceeding 600 million KRW, resulting in a property tax increase of over 30%, has surpassed 870,000 this year.

According to the '2017~2021 Housing Property Tax and Official Land Price Status' submitted by Seoul City to Kim Sang-hoon of the People Power Party on the 1st, the number of places where property tax rose to the maximum limit of 30% (applicable to properties over 600 million KRW) increased from 40,406 in 2017, when the Moon Jae-in administration took office, to 872,135 this year. Due to the rise in housing prices since the Moon administration began, the number of households with property tax increases reaching the maximum limit grew 21.6 times in five years.

The total property tax burden for households with publicly announced prices exceeding 600 million KRW and a tax increase up to 30% also surged 25.3 times, from 29.88698 billion KRW in 2017 to 755.9136 billion KRW in 2021.

Among Seoul's autonomous districts, Nowon-gu saw the largest increase in households with property tax burdens. The number rose from 2 in 2017 to 16,354 in 2021, an 8,177-fold increase, and the total property tax paid by these households increased from 390,000 KRW to over 8 billion KRW, a 20,564-fold rise. Geumcheon-gu, which had many mid- to low-priced homes, also increased from 1 case to 5,666 cases (5,666-fold) during the same period, with the tax amount soaring 19,758 times.

Seongbuk-gu, popular among actual homebuyers, also saw an increase from 9 cases to 25,665 cases, a 2,851-fold rise (tax amount increased 4,117-fold), and Gangdong-gu, where many large-scale new complexes were built, increased 2,875-fold (tax amount 4,428-fold). Additionally, Dobong-gu, Dongdaemun-gu, Seodaemun-gu, Gwangjin-gu, and Guro-gu showed increases around 1,000-fold, indicating that the tax burden has risen in areas preferred by actual buyers in Seoul.

As housing prices soared, the total housing property tax amount in Seoul increased more than 1.9 times, from 897.9 billion KRW in 2017 to 1.7266 trillion KRW in 2021.

However, in districts such as Guro-gu, Geumcheon-gu, Nowon-gu, Eunpyeong-gu, Gangbuk-gu, and Dobong-gu, the tax amount paid this year decreased compared to last year. Representative Kim Sang-hoon explained, "It is analyzed that the newly introduced property tax reduction system for single homeowners with official prices under 900 million KRW had an impact."

Representative Kim said, "During the five years of the Moon administration, tax collection increased up to 8,000 times, and the burden scale increased 20,000 times. Although the Moon administration will soon leave, the public will continue to bear the tax burden left behind. Real estate policies must be redesigned from scratch before it is too late."

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