[AKY News Poll] 60s·Conservatives "We Should Ease Comprehensive Real Estate Tax" 40s-50s·Progressives "House Prices Will Fall"

Easing 34.7% Strengthening 26.8%
Lee Jae-myung, Pledge for Payment Deferral and Refund
Yoon Seok-youl, Considering Easing Abolition Level

"House Prices Stable" 30.8%
Rising Outlook Higher Among 20s

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] The response favoring the easing or maintaining of the comprehensive real estate holding tax (종합부동산세, 종부세) was higher than the opinion advocating strengthening it. Regarding the outlook for this year's real estate market, more people expected housing prices to decline rather than rise.

On the 3rd, Asia Economy commissioned Win-G Korea Consulting to conduct a public opinion survey (100% mobile phone virtual numbers, telephone interviews) from the 28th to 29th of last month targeting 1,009 voters aged 18 and over nationwide. The results showed that 34.7% of respondents believed the 종부세 system should be eased compared to the current level. In contrast, only 26.8% thought it should be strengthened. Those who felt the current level was appropriate accounted for 18.9%, while 11.4% responded that the system should be abolished altogether. When looking at 10 people, the public opinion landscape is roughly 1.1 for abolition, 3.5 for easing, 1.9 for maintaining, 2.7 for strengthening, and 0.8 undecided.

Respondents advocating easing the 종부세 were predominantly from traditional conservative groups. Higher proportions were seen among those aged 60 and above (43.7%), supporters of the People Power Party (50.7%) and the People Party (51.7%), and housewives (45.2%). Conversely, those who answered that the tax should be strengthened were mainly from progressive groups, including people in their 40s (36.6%), supporters of the Democratic Party (39.2%) and the Justice Party (42.3%), and residents of the Chungcheong region (36.7%).

According to the National Tax Service, the number of people receiving 종부세 notices last year reached approximately 1.02 million. As public opinion formed around the tax being ‘excessive,’ presidential candidates have been rushing to announce plans to ease the 종부세.

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, announced that multi-homeowners who are not speculators would be excluded from the 종부세 surcharge. Additionally, if certain limited conditions such as owning one home or income thresholds are met, payment of the 종부세 would be deferred until income is generated or the property is disposed of. He also proposed a 종부세 refund. The Democratic Party and the government are seriously considering deferring payments for elderly taxpayers.

Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate, is considering more aggressive easing policies. He pledged to effectively abolish the 종부세 by integrating it with the property tax. Even before integration, to reduce the tax burden, he plans to freeze the fair market value ratio, which was scheduled to increase by 100% next year, at the current level of 95%, and lower the cap on the tax burden increase rate, which ranges from 50% to 200%. For long-term single-homeowners with income below a certain threshold, he intends to allow deferred payment of the 종부세 until the time of sale or inheritance regardless of age.

Meanwhile, more people expected housing prices to fall this year than to rise. The survey showed 35.5% believed prices would decline, 30.8% expected them to remain similar, and 24.8% anticipated an increase. The outlook for falling real estate prices was more common among people in their 40s and 50s, as well as supporters of the Democratic Party and the Open Democratic Party. Those expecting prices to rise were relatively more prevalent among people in their 20s and residents of the Busan-Gyeongnam (PK) region.

This survey was conducted using 100% mobile phone virtual numbers and telephone interviews. The sample was extracted with weighted values (cell weighting) by gender, age, and region based on the resident registration population as of the end of January 2021 from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For detailed survey information, please refer to the Win-G Korea Consulting website or the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

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