As President Lee Jae-myung has repeatedly targeted owners of multiple homes in his remarks, listings of dwellings have increased, especially in Seoul, and end users who had planned to buy dwellings are watching for an opportunity. Some buyers expect prices to fall as the deadline approaches for the end of the temporary waiver of the capital gains tax surcharge on owners of multiple homes, and have taken a wait-and-see stance. In the on-the-ground real estate brokerage market, there is a view that, since the government said it could announce as early as next week supplementary measures following the end of the waiver of the surcharge on owners of multiple homes, the level of listings put up by multi-home owners could be determined.
According to the government and the real estate industry on the 7th, as the temporary waiver of the surcharge for owners of multiple homes ends on May 9, dwellings held by multi-home owners are coming onto the market. According to the real estate platform Asil, Seoul's dwelling listings totaled 59,706 on the 6th, up 7.2% from 10 days earlier on the 27th of last month (55,695).
Within Seoul, listings of dwellings increased mainly in the autonomous districts along the Han River belt and the three Gangnam districts (Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa). During this period, Seongdong District's listings rose 16.5% to 1,423, while Gwangjin and Mapo rose 16.2% and 12.5% to 945 and 1,577, respectively. In the three Gangnam districts, Songpa's listings increased 14.9%, bringing 1,577 onto the market. Seocho rose 9.6% to 6,889, and Gangnam increased 9.5%, registering 8,336 dwellings for sale.
Listings also increased in the Seoul metropolitan area. As of the 6th, Incheon's listings were 46,759, up 3.6% from 10 days earlier, and Gyeonggi totaled 165,232, up 3.2%. Outside the metropolitan area, listings increased in Sejong (3.6%), North Jeolla (3.0%), Busan (3.0%), Daejeon (2.7%), North Chungcheong (2.5%), Jeju (2.4%), South Chungcheong (2.3%), Gangwon (2.2%), Gwangju (2.2%), Daegu (2.0%), Ulsan (1.7%), North Gyeongsang (1.1%), and South Gyeongsang (0.9%). In South Jeolla, listings increased by just one, posting a growth rate in the 0% range.
As owners of multiple homes list properties to sell, some buyers have shifted to a wait-and-see stance rather than rushing to snap up listings, according to the real estate brokerage industry. A licensed broker in Songpa District said, "Urgent sales are coming out, but prices are still high, so it's not a situation where contracts have jumped as much as expected." A person in their 40s, identified as A, who lives on a jeonse lease in Seoul's Mapo District, said, "I've been looking at real estate to buy a nearby apartment, and the agency contacted me saying a listing from a multi-home owner came out at 100 million won below the previous asking price," but added, "Because they're listing due to the capital gains tax surcharge on multi-home owners, as May gets closer the need to sell will become more urgent and prices seem likely to fall further, so I'm thinking of waiting a month or two."
However, the brokerage industry also noted that buyers should consider variables in how owners of multiple homes dispose of dwellings. A licensed broker in Yangcheon District said, "Fire-sale listings from owners of multiple homes are appearing, but since the government said next week it will announce supplementary measures for multi-home listings that are hard to dispose of quickly, such as dwellings with tenants or those in land transaction permit zones, market sentiment could change after that," adding, "If the government opens an exit, properties that no longer need to be listed as urgent sales are likely to see price changes."
Amid an ongoing game of chicken between sellers and buyers over listings from owners of multiple homes, once the capital gains tax surcharge on owners of multiple homes is fully implemented, the volume of urgent listings from them coming onto the market appears likely to be limited. This is because many have already disposed of all but a "single smart home" or resolved their multi-home status through gifts to children or between spouses. In Seoul, the number of gift transactions for collective buildings (apartments, officetels, low-rise apartment) was 785 in January this year, up 87.4% from the same period a year earlier (419). In December last year, gifts totaled 1,054, up 71.4% from the same period a year earlier (615).