Seoul's residential property tax revenue rose by more than 500 billion won this year from a year earlier, as sharp gains in home prices pushed up the government-assessed values used to calculate the levy. More than half of the increase came from the three affluent southern districts of Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa. Dongdaemun District posted the steepest growth rate.
Seoul collected 3.896 trillion won ($2.8 billion) in residential property tax this year, according to data that Rep. Kim Sang-hoon of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Finance and Economic Planning Committee, obtained from the Seoul metropolitan government's tax division on the 14th. That was up 511.8 billion won, or 15.1%, from 3.3843 trillion won a year earlier.
Three Gangnam Districts Lead, Dongdaemun Pushes From Behind
The three southern districts again drove the increase. Combined property tax from the three districts came to 1.7182 trillion won, up 292 billion won, or 20.5%, from 1.4262 trillion won a year earlier. That accounted for 57% of Seoul's total increase of 511.8 billion won. By district, Gangnam collected 734.5 billion won, Seocho 520.4 billion won and Songpa 463.2 billion won, up 101.7 billion won (16.1%), 101.3 billion won (24.2%) and 89 billion won (23.8%), respectively.
Dongdaemun District recorded the highest growth rate of any district. Its property tax revenue rose 26.4% to 94.4 billion won from 74.7 billion won a year earlier. The jump is attributed to a sixfold increase in the number of taxable homes assessed above 1.2 billion won, which climbed to 2,397 from 399 in a single year.
Homes Assessed Above 1.2 Billion Won Spread Across Seoul
Dongdaemun was not the only district where high-value homes multiplied. Across Seoul, the number of taxable homes assessed above 1.2 billion won rose to 670,308 this year from 465,663 a year earlier, an increase of 204,645, or 43.9%. The three Gangnam districts' share of that total fell 9.9 percentage points to 59.1% from 69.0%, while the share held by the other eight districts along the Han River rose 9.4 percentage points to 37.7% from 28.3%. In the 14 districts outside the Han River belt, the number of taxable homes assessed above 1.2 billion won rose to 21,715 from 12,501, an increase of 9,214, or 73.7%.
Seongdong, Mapo and Gwangjin Also Post Double-Digit Growth
Property tax revenue is also climbing steeply outside the Gangnam area. Seongdong District's revenue rose 21.5% from a year earlier, while Mapo District posted 14.5% growth and Gwangjin District 14.3%, both double-digit gains.
"As Seoul's home price rally spreads beyond the three Gangnam districts and other established high-value neighborhoods, the areas facing heavier property tax burdens are gradually widening," an industry official said. "If the government strengthens taxes on property holdings, property tax revenue will rise even more steeply."
