Since the launch of the current administration, rents and lump-sum deposits for rentals on the outskirts of Seoul have surged over roughly 11 months. In particular, some areas north of the Han River saw deposit price growth rates more than 10 times the previous year's pace, prompting analysis that housing costs for ordinary people have risen sharply.
At a seminar at the National Assembly on the 18th titled "Evaluation of Lee Jae-myung administration's first-year real estate policy and future tasks," a keynote presentation laying out these findings was released. The seminar was hosted by the People Power Party's "Special Committee for Restoring the Housing Ladder" (Chairperson Kim Jae-seop) and Rep. Cho Eun-hee's office, with keynote presentations by Hanyang University Professor Lee Chang-moo and Chung-Ang University Professor Jin Jang-ik, and a discussion chaired by Konkuk University Professor Emeritus Son Jae-young.
Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party's Seoul mayoral candidate, said in opening remarks, "Excessive lending regulations have collapsed the housing mobility ladder for citizens, and now, by even moving to tinker with the special long-term holding deduction, the market is being thrown into turmoil again," adding, "I believe the answer is not regulations that suppress the market, but sustainable and swift supply based on accurate data and forecasts."
Chairperson Kim Jae-seop (People Power Party lawmaker) said in opening remarks at the seminar, "Ultimately, the key to solving real estate problems is designing dwelling supply and loans for end users well, but the Lee Jae-myung administration did not do so," adding, "After the local elections, President Lee Jae-myung, the Seoul mayor, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport should shift real estate policy to a supply-centered approach."
According to presentation materials by Professor Lee Chang-moo titled "An analysis of the first year of the Lee Jae-myung administration's real estate policy through statistics," from June 2025, when the Lee Jae-myung administration took office, to May 11, over about 11 months, the average deposit price growth rate in Seoul was 8.66%. That is 4.41 times the average growth rate of the previous year, from June 2024 to June 2025 (1.96%).
By district, the growth in deposit prices was higher in outer or mid- to low-priced dwelling clusters than in high-priced clusters such as Gangnam. The four districts of Gangbuk, Nowon, Dobong, and Seongbuk saw deposit prices rise an average 12.63% over the administration's 11 months, 11.58 times the previous year's rate (1.09%).
In the three Gangnam districts (Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa) plus Gangdong, the 11-month growth rate was 7.83%, or 1.8 times the previous year's rate (4.33%). In the four districts of Gwangjin, Dongjak, Seongdong, and Mapo, the 11-month rate was 9.35%, 4.5 times the previous year's rate (2.07%).
Monthly rents also climbed faster mainly in outer areas. Over the administration's 11 months, the average monthly rent growth rate in Seoul was 8.35%, 2.3 times the previous year's 3.57%. But in the four districts of Gangbuk, Nowon, Dobong, and Seongbuk, monthly rents rose an average 13.14% in 11 months. The previous year's rate was 2.39%, making the increase 5.4 times.
Lee said, "By inducing multi-homeowners to list properties before reimposing the heavy capital gains tax on multiple-home sales, the administration briefly created (home price) stability in the very short term, but at the cost of a vanishing deposit-rental market and a surge in monthly rents, which is creating housing insecurity for ordinary people." Lee added, "Policies expected ahead that would exclude non-resident single-homeowners from the special long-term holding deduction and abolish capital gains tax reductions for registered rental business operators—thus encouraging sales of deposit- and monthly-rent dwellings—will hinder housing moves intended to adjust consumption over the life cycle and reduce wasteful commuting, ultimately lowering social welfare and productivity and weakening urban competitiveness."
Chung-Ang University Professor Jin Jang-ik, in a keynote presentation titled "The dilemma of real estate market stabilization policies: Effects and limits of tax policies focused on suppressing demand," said, "It is difficult in practice to distinguish and regulate speculators, investors, and end users." Jin also noted, "Tax policy can be implemented immediately, has high political symbolism, sends a strong signal effect to the market (regarding real estate suppression), and can secure revenue," but added, "However, because it is not a policy that changes market structure but one that adjusts the incentives of economic actors, it has limits in changing structural markets." In other words, resolving the demand-supply mismatch in the real estate market and stabilizing home prices over the long term with short-term measures like taxes is difficult.
Seoul National University of Science and Technology Professor Kim Woo-cheol, who joined the discussion, criticized real estate suppression measures using taxes, saying, "There is no country that uses taxes like a penalty, but when it comes to real estate-related tax policy, Korea is using such measures."