Public Apartment Prices Rise 16%

The government announced prices of housing complexes such as apartments and villas have risen 16.4 percent on average compared to last year.

The price in Gangnam in Seoul and suburban regions rose 19 to 39 percent, increasing the maintenance tax fees for the people living in the district.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation announced the government announced prices for 2006 (based on January 1) for 13,010,000 houses nationwide, including 4,300,000 separate houses and 8,710,000 complexes on April 28.

The area that experienced the most increase was Bundang-gu of Seongnam, Gyeonggi, where housing prices increased 39.1 percent. Five suburban cities, including Pyeongchon (30.2 percent), Sanbon (29.2 percent), Gwacheon (28.4 percent), and Ilsan (23.8 percent) all experienced a rise of more than 20 percent.

Most high-priced housing in the Gangnam and Bundang suburban areas, which experienced a steep increase in posted prices, will also be taxed two to three times more than last year in property and real estate taxes.

Houses that will be taxed under the comprehensive real estate taxing system increased from 19,786 to 158,183 houses this year.

Joong-Hyun Park sanjuck@donga.com imsoo@donga.com