Experts agreed that easing regulations is urgent to normalize the real estate market. They said home prices will stabilize only if demand, which has been dampened by loan rules, recovers, and if the burden of transaction taxes such as acquisition tax and capital gains tax is reduced so supply increases. Many also said measures are needed to revitalize maintenance projects such as reconstruction and redevelopment to speed up the supply of dwellings.
◇ "Ease regulations focused on suppressing demand"
According to a survey on the outlook for the 2026 real estate market conducted by ChosunBiz on the 3rd with 20 real estate experts, 55% of respondents (11 people, multiple responses allowed) said the government should improve real estate policies focused on "suppressing demand" to revitalize real estate market transactions.
Earlier, through the June 27 plan last year, the government capped the maximum limit of mortgage loans at 600 million won. Later, when it announced the Oct. 15 plan, it further lowered the loan limit for dwellings priced over 2 billion won and 2.5 billion won to 400 million won and 200 million won, respectively. It also designated all of Seoul and 12 locations in Gyeonggi Province as land transaction permit zones that impose an owner-occupancy requirement.
Song Seung-hyun, head of Urban and Economy, said, "End-user demand and move-up demand need to move for the market's price and supply-demand adjustment function to recover," adding, "To resolve the transaction cliff, loan regulations need to be normalized." Woo Byung-tak, senior commissioner at Shinhan Premier Pathfinder, said, "Unnecessary regulated areas should be lifted," adding, "Legal revisions for lifting at the district and neighborhood levels and stronger cooperation with the Seoul city government are needed."
There were also calls to disperse demand. They said fundamental measures are needed to address the "Seoul metropolitan area concentration." Kim Jin-yu, a professor at Kyonggi University, said, "Tax benefits are needed, such as recognizing a Seoul metropolitan resident who purchases a dwelling in a provincial area as a one-home owner and exempting them from heavy taxation on two-home owners," adding, "Policies to promote purchases of provincial dwellings are needed." Ham Young-jin, head of Woori Bank Real Estate Research Lab, said, "Policies for balanced regional development are needed to disperse the single-pole system centered on Seoul."
◇ "Cut transaction taxes to expand supply… promote maintenance projects"
Real estate policies that are entirely regulation-driven have caused side effects of "listings locked up → transactions plunging → home prices rising." Experts said real estate transaction taxes should be revamped to induce listings to come to market. Ko Jun-seok, a professor at Yonsei University Sangnam Institute of Management, said, "We need to ease real estate tax regulations such as acquisition and capital gains taxes so that listings can circulate in the market again."
Ham said, "We need to strengthen the long-term holding special deduction (Jangteuk Gongje) for capital gains tax to resolve locked-up listings." The long-term holding special deduction is a system that reduces taxes when land and buildings are held for at least three years and then sold, allowing up to 80% of capital gains to be deducted depending on holding and occupancy periods.
Many also said maintenance projects such as reconstruction and redevelopment should be promoted to quickly increase the supply of dwellings. Twenty-five percent of respondents (five people, multiple responses allowed) said the government should ease maintenance project regulations to revitalize real estate market transactions. Kim Je-gyeong, head of Tumi Real Estate Consulting, said, "Starting this year, as a shortage of dwelling supply becomes full-fledged, a double burden will emerge in which not only home prices but also Jeonsei and monthly rents soar together," adding, "If reconstruction and redevelopment regulations are not eased, this structure is likely to become more entrenched going forward."
※Twenty experts surveyed (in Korean alphabetical order)
Ko Jun-seok, Yonsei University Sangnam Institute of Management chief professor; Kwon Dae-jung, Sogang University Graduate School Department of Real Estate professor; Kim Gyu-jeong, Korea Investment & Securities Co. Asset Succession Research Center head; Kim Sung-hwan, Korea Research Institute for Construction Policy research fellow; Kim Eun-seon, ZIGBANG CO. Datalab lead; Kim Je-gyeong, Tumi Real Estate head; Kim Jin-yu, Kyonggi University Department of Urban Transportation Engineering professor; Kim Hyo-seon, NH Nonghyup chief real estate commissioner; Park Won-gap, KB Kookmin Bank senior commissioner; Seo Jin-hyung, Kwangwoon University professor; Song Seung-hyun, Urban and Economy head; Song In-ho, KDI Economic Information Center head; Sim Hyung-seok, Udabang Research Institute head; Woo Byung-tak, Shinhan Bank Premier Pathfinder commissioner; Yoo Sun-jong, Konkuk University professor; Yoon Ji-hae, Real Estate R114 senior researcher; Lee Eun-hyung, Construction & Economy Research Institute of Korea research fellow; Lee Chang-mu, Hanyang University Department of Urban Engineering professor; Cho Young-gwang, Daewoo E&C researcher; Ham Young-jin, Woori Bank Real Estate Research Lab head