Korean gov't extends housing price realization rate at 69 percent for 2026
Published: 13 Nov. 2025, 16:48
![Apartments are seen from Mount Namsan in central Seoul on Nov. 13. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/13/1ddf2e3b-8b44-4e70-b9f0-9997c16acebd.jpg)
Apartments are seen from Mount Namsan in central Seoul on Nov. 13. [YONHAP]
The Korean government will keep the official housing price realization rate at 69 percent for 2026, extending a freeze now in its fourth year as officials seek to contain tax burdens driven by rising home prices.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport confirmed the plan during a public hearing on Thursday at the Korea Real Estate Board’s Gangnam branch office.
“We must maintain the current official price realization rate next year and run a management system that continues to reflect market fluctuations," said Park Chun-gyu, director of the Housing & Real Estate Research Division at the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements.
The realization rate measures the ratio of the government’s assessed value of a home to its actual market value. It plays a central role in determining property taxes, health insurance premiums and eligibility for welfare programs.
The government had initially proposed raising the rate to 80.9 percent by 2026. Instead, the freeze will keep next year’s level at 69 percent for apartments, 65.5 percent for land and 53.6 percent for single-family homes — the same thresholds set in 2023. Only this year’s market price changes will be reflected in the 2026 assessed values.
![Apartments are seen from Lotte World Tower in southern Seoul on Nov. 6. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/13/6b64959a-3a84-4b56-94c9-9c677b47fa92.jpg)
Apartments are seen from Lotte World Tower in southern Seoul on Nov. 6. [NEWS1]
However, owners of high-value apartments, especially in Seoul, may still see higher tax bills because their market prices have climbed.
Park said that simulations that factored in public acceptance showed that an annual change in official housing prices of within 1.5 percent of the previous year was appropriate.
“People want official prices to track real market trends,” he said. “But they prefer gradual adjustments over sudden changes. Applying the 1.5 percent adjustment did not lead to any change in the objection rate."
Jung Jae-won, deputy director of the Land Ministry’s Real Estate Appraisal Division, echoed that sentiment.
“We will need to maintain next year’s market price reflection rate at the current level,” Jung said. "The government will review how to set the annual market value reflection rate over the mid- to long-term through commissioned research."
![Apartments are seen from Mount Namsan in central Seoul on Nov. 9. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/13/caa6ba0d-3436-4d85-8e18-9320aed07176.jpg)
Apartments are seen from Mount Namsan in central Seoul on Nov. 9. [YONHAP]
The Land Ministry was due to convene the Central Commission on Public Announcement of Real Estate Values later on Thursday to review and finalize the government’s proposed official housing price realization rate for next year.
Officially assessed real estate prices form the basis for multiple taxes, including property and comprehensive real estate taxes, and are used in 67 administrative systems. The current tax system calculates the taxable base by multiplying the official housing price realization rate by the fair market value ratio.
The push to align official prices with market rates began under the Moon Jae-in administration in 2020, with a plan to raise them to 90 percent of actual prices by 2035. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration rolled back that trajectory, though the long-term goal remains in place under the Act on the Public Announcement of Real Estate Prices.
Land Minister Kim Yun-duk reiterated during a National Assembly audit last month that the government has "no plans to revise the rate this year."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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