South Korea Housing Holding Tax Surges Amid Rising Property Values

South Korea’s homeowners are set to face a sharp increase in housing taxes for 2026, with total holding tax revenue projected to reach 8.7803 trillion won, marking a 15.3% jump from the previous year’s 7.6132 trillion won.

This surge, amounting to a year-on-year increase of 1.1671 trillion won, is driven by rapidly rising property values, particularly in Seoul, where the official public price of multi-family housing such as apartments rose by 18.67% in 2025 — about twice the national average of 9.16%.

The holding tax, known locally as ‘bo-yu-se’, consists of two main components: the property tax, a local levy, and the comprehensive real estate tax, a national tax on high-value properties.

Property tax revenue alone is expected to climb to 7.2814 trillion won in 2026, up 13.4% or 859.3 billion won from 2025. Meanwhile, the comprehensive real estate tax (jong-bu-se) is projected to reach 1.499 trillion won, a striking 25.9% increase of 307.9 billion won over the previous year.