This year, the officially assessed values of apartments and row houses in Seoul will rise by nearly 19% from a year earlier. As home prices in the three Gangnam districts (Gangnam, Seocho, and Songpa) and in Han River belt districts such as Mapo and Yongsan climbed sharply, official assessments also increased. This year's growth rate in assessed values is more than double last year's 7.86%.
Accordingly, the burden of holding taxes is expected to increase, especially in areas where home prices rose rapidly. For some high-end apartment complexes, holding taxes are likely to climb to the cap of 150% compared with the previous year.
Of the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide, nine, including Seoul, saw assessed values rise from last year. As Seoul home prices surged, they pulled up the nationwide average growth rate in assessed values to 9.16%.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 17th, the draft officially assessed values for 15.85 million multiunit dwellings (apartments, row houses, and multiplex houses) in 2026 rose 9.16% on average nationwide from a year earlier. This year's draft assessments applied the same realization rate (the ratio of assessed value to market price) of 69% as last year, reflecting only the changes in each dwelling's market price.
The official assessment is an indicator used in 67 systems for taxes, health insurance premiums, the basic pension, and administration, and is calculated by multiplying the dwelling's market price by the realization rate (market reflection rate).
In Seoul, assessed values rose 18.67% from a year earlier as gains in high-priced apartment prices in the Gangnam area and the Han River belt were reflected. Seoul was the only city or province where assessed values rose more than the national average. Excluding Seoul, the change in assessed values was just 3.37%.
Gyeonggi followed Seoul in the growth rate of assessed values, recording 6.38% as dwellings in Gwacheon and Seongnam rose in price. Next were Sejong (6.29%), Ulsan (5.22%), and North Jeolla (4.32%). Jeju (-1.76%), Gwangju (-1.25%), Daejeon (-1.12%), Daegu (-0.76%), and South Chungcheong (-0.53%) saw assessed values fall.
Within Seoul, the growth rate of assessed values in the three Gangnam districts was 24.70%. In districts adjacent to the Han River—Seongdong, Yangcheon, Yongsan, Dongjak, Gangdong, Gwangjin, Mapo, and Yeongdeungpo—assessed values rose 23.13%. The district with the highest growth rate in assessed values in Seoul was Seongdong, where assessments jumped 29.04%.
Excluding the Gangnam area and the Han River belt, the growth rate of assessed values in the remaining districts was only 6.93%. In Gangbuk, Nowon, Dobong, Eunpyeong, Guro, Geumcheon, Gwanak, and Jungnang, the growth rates of assessed values did not reach the national average.
Nam Hyuk-woo of Woori Bank's Real Estate Research Institute said, "Even within Seoul, regional disparities in assessed values were very large," and noted, "Last year's polarization, led by price gains in the three Gangnam districts and nearby key districts (including the Han River belt), has materialized this year in higher assessed values."
The burden of holding taxes (property tax and comprehensive real estate tax) is expected to grow mainly in areas with high growth in assessed values. In particular, tax burdens are expected to rise in Seoul, where high-end dwellings are concentrated. By contrast, in regional cities such as Sejong, Daegu, and Gwangju, where home prices continued to fall last year, apartment prices declined and assessed values also fell from a year earlier, reducing holding tax burdens.
From the 18th, the draft assessed values for multiunit dwellings can be viewed on the Real Estate Public Price Notifier and at the civil service desks of city, county, and district offices where the dwellings are located. After a public comment period and review by the Central Real Estate Price Publicity Committee, the final assessments will be officially released on Apr. 30.