After signs of a "listing freeze" emerged in Seoul's apartment market following the start of heavier capital gains taxes on multiple-home owners, the government unveiled a supplementary measure easing some rules in land transaction permit zones. If a person without a home buys a dwelling with a tenant, the grace period for the move-in requirement will be expanded from listings held by multiple-home owners to all rental dwellings.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 12th it will expand the scope of buyers eligible to defer move-in until a lease ends, when transacting dwellings that are rented out or have a registered jeonse right within a land transaction permit zone, to include "all dwellings with tenants," including non-resident single-home dwellings. Until now, the measure was allowed only in limited cases for dwellings sold by multiple-home owners before the end of the capital gains tax relief.
In areas designated as permit zones, including all of Seoul and 12 regions in Gyeonggi, a buyer of a dwelling must move in within four months and reside for two years. Under the new measure, however, if the dwelling is occupied by a tenant, the move-in requirement can be deferred until the lease ends regardless of whether the seller is a multiple-home owner or a non-resident single-home owner. The temporary relief on heavier capital gains taxes that ended on the 9th remains expired, so multiple-home owners still face heavier capital gains taxes.
The government said the grace period will be allowed only for end users without a home. The criterion for being without a home applies to those who have remained without a home continuously since May 12, the announcement date. Those who sold an existing home after the announcement to become without a home will not be recognized. The aim is to block ladder-up demand and steer transactions toward end users.
To receive the move-in obligation grace period, buyers must apply for and obtain a land transaction permit from the relevant authority by Dec. 31 this year. After receiving the permit, they must complete the transfer of title registration within four months. The grace period runs until the first lease end date under the contract in effect as of the announcement date. However, they must move in by May 11, 2028, at the latest and actually reside for two years.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said it will not apply the resident registration move-in requirement when a mortgage loan is taken out to purchase dwellings subject to a land transaction permit.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said the primary purpose of the measure is to address fairness concerns that arose because the move-in grace applied only to dwellings sold by some multiple-home owners. Earlier, to facilitate sales by multiple-home owners before the end of the heavier capital gains tax relief, MOLIT allowed a grace period on the move-in requirement within land transaction permit zones when the buyer was without a home.
The measure also aims to prevent a "listing freeze," in which listings from multiple-home owners decline due to heavier capital gains taxes. MOLIT said that as sales by multiple-home owners increased, purchase transactions rose among buyers without a home, adding, "Through this follow-up step, we will further invigorate transactions centered on end users." Before the relief ended, the share of purchases by people without a home for Seoul apartments sold by multiple-home owners rose from an average 56% in 2025 to 73% in March this year.
MOLIT stressed the move-in grace does not newly allow "gap investment (sales with jeonse in place)." Even if the move-in obligation is deferred for rented dwellings, the buyer must still move in when the lease ends and actually reside for two years.
Kim Yun-duk, Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), said, "This expansion of the move-in grace is being implemented while maintaining the principle of prohibiting gap investment," adding, "Not only will fairness among sellers be addressed, but sellers who were hesitant to list because they had tenants are also expected to proceed more actively with sales." Kim said, "We will block speculative demand while invigorating transactions centered on end users and push forward without delay the expansion of dwellings supply in Seoul and the greater capital region."