Heavier Taxes Expected for Homeowners around Capital

List prices for “standard detached houses” in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province will likely rise far above the national average. Homeowners in the capital metropolitan area are thus likely to face heavier property taxes, which are based on list prices.

The Construction and Transportation Ministry said yesterday that it will post the list prices of 200,000 of the homes today. Cities, counties and wards in late April will calculate and announce the list prices of an additional 4.04 million detached houses.

The combined list prices of 200,000 detached houses have risen 4.34 percent nationwide, down from 6.02 percent last year.

List prices grew 7.28 percent in Incheon, 6.99 percent in Seoul and 5.81 percent in Gyeonggi Province, all higher than the nationwide average. Thirteen other cities and provinces saw such inflation grow at a lower rate than the nationwide average.

By price range, 151,818 detached houses were worth under 100 million won (75.9 percent); 46,648 were worth more than 100 million won but less than 600 million won (23.3 percent); and 1,542 were worth more than 600 million won (0.8 percent). A detached house in Shinmunro 2-ga, central Seoul, had the highest list price of 3.62 billion won, up 8.7 percent from last year.

Seoul’s Yongsan ward had the highest inflation of 15.63 percent. A ministry official said, “Affected by development projects, list prices have soared for detached homes nearby Yongsan International Business Zone and Cheongra International City.”

Owners of expensive houses in Seoul and Incheon could face a heavy tax burden as high as 90 percent, up from 80 percent last year. For example, the list price of a detached house in Hyochang-dong, Seoul, has increased 24.6 percent from 641 million won last year to 799 million won. Thus the real estate tax will rise 89.5 percent from 2.3 million won to 4.4 million won.

Homeowners can find the list prices of 200,000 standard detached houses on the ministry’s Web site (www.moct.go.kr) and at offices of cities, counties and wards where the homes are located through Feb. 29. They can file an objection within the prescribed period.

jefflee@donga.com