Seoul Apartment Property Taxes Top 3 Trillion Won for First Time... Three Gangnam Districts Account for Half

Three Gangnam Districts Account for 47.5% of Seoul's Total Property Tax
Average Property Tax per Person in Seoul: 1.648 Million Won
Number of Taxpayers Assessed More Than 5 Million Won in Property Tax Tops 100,000

For the first time, property taxes levied this year on owners of apartments in Seoul have exceeded 3 trillion won. Nearly half of the total came from the three affluent Gangnam districts of Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa, where property taxes approached 1.6 trillion won. Property taxes in the “Mayongseong” area of Mapo, Yongsan and Seongdong, where home prices rose rapidly, also exceeded 400 billion won for the first time. The number of taxpayers in Seoul charged more than 5 million won in residential property tax also topped 100,000 for the first time.

Property prices listed at real estate agencies in Seoul Yonhap News Agency

Assemblyman Choi Eun-seok of the People Power Party analyzed data on individual residential property tax assessments that he received from the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Oct. 21. The data showed that property taxes levied this year on apartments in Seoul totaled 3.2723 trillion won, up 478.1 billion won, or 17.1%, from last year. The total property tax levied in Seoul was only about 1.2172 trillion won in 2016, but has risen rapidly to 2.2614 trillion won in 2020 and 2.7942 trillion won last year.

The number of Seoul apartment owners liable for property tax rose from 1,533,239 in 2016 to 1,985,669 this year. Average property tax per person also nearly doubled in 10 years, climbing from 793,000 won in 2016 to 1.647 million won this year.

By area, property taxes levied this year on apartments in the three Gangnam districts totaled 1.5552 trillion won, up 21.6% from 1.2786 trillion won last year. They accounted for 47.5% of all apartment property taxes in Seoul. Although people who own apartments in the three Gangnam districts make up only 23.5% of Seoul’s total population, their average property tax assessment per person was 3.337 million won, twice the Seoul average of 1.648 million won.

The property tax gap between the three Gangnam districts and Seoul’s outlying areas also widened. This year, total property taxes levied in the “Nodogang” area of Nowon, Dobong and Gangbuk amounted to 128.8 billion won, less than one-tenth of the 1.5552 trillion won levied in the three Gangnam districts. This indicates that the divide in home prices has widened further even within Seoul.

This year, average property tax per person was 3.337 million won in the three Gangnam districts and 499,000 won in Nodogang, a difference of about 6.7 times. Compared with last year, average property tax per person rose by about 470,000 won in the three Gangnam districts, while the increase in Nodogang was just 20,000 won.

Meanwhile, property taxes on apartments in Seoul’s Han River Belt rose sharply along with home prices. Total property taxes levied this year in the “Mayongseong” area came to 414.3 billion won, up 16.7% from 355 billion won last year. This was a steep increase compared with the 5.3% rise over the same period in property taxes on apartments in Nodogang.

Average property tax per person in Mayongseong rose 14.0%, from 1.789 million won last year to 2.04 million won this year. The increase was far greater than in Nodogang, where the average rose 4.3%, from 478,000 won last year to 499,000 won this year.

Among Seoul’s districts, property tax increases were highest in Dongdaemun (27.4%), Seocho (25.7%), Songpa (24.6%), Seongdong (22.4%) and Gangnam (17.2%). By contrast, rates of increase were relatively low in Geumcheon (3.8%), Dobong (4.5%), Gangbuk (5.5%), Nowon (5.6%) and Guro (7.0%). The gap between Dongdaemun and Geumcheon was 23.6 percentage points, or about seven times.

Apartment complexes in downtown Seoul, seen from Namsan. Yonhap News Agency

This year, the number of taxpayers in Seoul assessed more than 5 million won in residential property tax reached 106,799, topping 100,000 for the first time. This surpassed the previous record of 87,462, set in 2021. There were 43,556 such taxpayers in Gangnam and 28,971 in Seocho. Together, the two districts accounted for about 67.9% of Seoul’s high-value taxpayers.

The number of taxpayers who own ultra-high-value homes with an assessed value exceeding 30 billion won also surged 129.7% this year to 85,887, up from 37,393 last year. The number rose sharply from last year to 41,723 in Gangnam and 30,345 in Seocho. Together, the two districts accounted for 83.9% of all taxpayers in Seoul whose homes were assessed at more than 30 billion won.

By age group, the number of older residents liable for property tax rose substantially, while the number of younger taxpayers fell. This year, 235,808 Seoul residents aged 80 or older were liable for property tax, up 343% from 53,237 in 2012. By contrast, the number of taxpayers aged 30 or younger fell 23%, from 396,328 in 2012 to 306,079 this year.

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