Seoul apartment tax bills hit record high, led by wealthy southern districts

Property taxes levied on Seoul apartment owners topped 3 trillion won ($2.3 billion) for the first time this year, with nearly half the bill falling on the affluent three Gangnam districts — Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa.

The total reached a record 3.3 trillion won, up 17.1 percent, or 478.1 billion won, from 2.8 trillion won last year, according to an analysis of individual housing property tax data that Rep. Choi Eun-seok of the People Power Party obtained from the Seoul Metropolitan Government and released Wednesday.

Property taxes on apartments in the three Gangnam districts alone came to nearly 1.6 trillion won. Taxes in the Mapo, Yongsan and Seongdong districts — collectively known as Mayongseong — marked by sharp price gains, surpassed 400 billion won for the first time.

Seoul’s apartment property tax rose from 1.2 trillion won in 2016 to 1.4 trillion won in 2017, 1.6 trillion won in 2018 and 1.8 trillion won in 2019, before topping 2 trillion won for the first time in 2020 at 2.3 trillion won. It swelled to 2.7 trillion won in 2021 and 2.9 trillion won in 2022, then fell to 2.3 trillion won in 2023 before rebounding to 2.5 trillion won in 2024 and 2.8 trillion won last year. This year’s total is about 2.7 times the figure a decade ago.

The tax bill grew far faster than the number of people paying it. Seoul had 1.9 million apartment property taxpayers this year, up over 57,000, or 3 percent, from last year and about 30 percent from 1.5 million in 2016. Over the same period, total property tax jumped about 169 percent.

The average bill per taxpayer more than doubled from 793,000 won in 2016 to 1.6 million won this year. The figure first passed 1 million won in 2019 and has kept rising, gaining about 200,000 won from 1.4 million won last year alone.

Most of the increase came from the three Gangnam districts, where apartment property tax rose 276.6 billion won, or 21.6 percent, to 1.6 trillion won. That accounts for about 58 percent of Seoul’s total increase of 478.1 billion won.

The three Gangnam districts’ share of Seoul’s apartment property tax also rose from 45.8 percent last year to 47.5 percent this year, even though they account for only 23.5 percent of taxpayers. Nearly half of the city’s apartment property tax is effectively levied on fewer than one in four taxpayers.

For per-person bills, taxpayers in the three Gangnam districts paid an average of 3.3 million won this year, about twice the Seoul average, while those in the northern Nowon, Dobong and Gangbuk — collectively known as Nodogang — districts paid an average of 499,000 won.

The gap between the two regions widened from about six times last year to 6.7 times this year. The average bill in the Gangnam districts rose by 470,000 won from 2.9 million won, while that of the Nodogang districts only rose about 20,000 won from 478,000 won.

In total, the Gangnam districts were assessed at about 12 times the 128.8 billion won levied in the Nodogang districts. 

Property taxes also climbed in districts along the Han River. Apartment property tax in the Mayongseong districts rose 59.3 billion won, or 16.7 percent, from 355 billion won last year to 414.3 billion won, topping 400 billion won for the first time.

Yongsan District in central Seoul topped the three with 146.4 billion won, narrowly ahead of Seongdong District, eastern Seoul, at 146 billion won and Mapo District, western Seoul, at 121.9 billion won. 

The total for the Mayongseong districts was 3.2 times that of the Nodogang districts, where property tax rose only 5.3 percent from 122.2 billion won last year to 128.8 billion won. Nowon District accounted for about 79.4 billion won, while Dobong and Gangbuk districts were assessed at 32.3 billion won and 17.1 billion won.

The gap in individual burdens between the two areas also widened. The Mayongseong districts' average per-person property tax rose 14 percent from 1.8 million won to 2 million won, while the Nodogang districts rose just 4.3 percent, widening the gap from 3.7 times to 4.1 times.

Growth rates in apartment property tax varied widely by district. Dongdaemun District in eastern Seoul posted the steepest increase at 27.4 percent, about seven times the lowest rate of 3.8 percent in Geumcheon District in southern Seoul, a gap of 23.6 percentage points.

Seocho followed with 25.7 percent and Songpa with 24.6 percent, then Seongdong with 22.4 percent and Gangnam with 17.2 percent. Dongdaemun and Seongdong, both of which have recently seen residents move into new apartment complexes and apartment prices rise sharply, ranked among the top.

Increases were smaller on the city’s outskirts. After Geumcheon, Dobong posted 4.5 percent and Gangbuk 5.5 percent, with Nowon at 5.6 percent and Guro in western Seoul at 7 percent rounding out the bottom five.

The regional gap in tax burdens appears to have widened as district-level price changes were reflected in the government-assessed values of apartments.

“Rising apartment prices in Seoul are leading to a heavier property tax burden, and the gap between regions is also deepening,” Rep. Choi said. “The government should not stop at announcing supply plans but should come up with effective measures that reflect the supply and demand conditions in each region.”

BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]