By Lee Kyung-min
Seoul apartment trading transactions fell to a six-year low in January, largely due to the heavier tax on owners of multiple home and tougher lending rules.
The measures, key economic policy initiatives spearheaded by the Moon Jae-in administration, seek to crack down on real estate speculation, long cited as the main cause of housing price hikes.
According to land and property prices data from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, there were 1,857 apartment transactions in Seoul in January.
The figure was down 81.8 percent from 10,198 transactions in January 2017. It was the lowest since January 2013 when it stood at 1,196.
The volume peaked at 13,813 in March 2018, shortly before the government imposed a heavier tax on capital gains, and has since continued its downward trend.
The volumes last year were 12,235 in September and 10,117 in October, but plummeted to 3,544 in November and 2,299 in December.
Volumes in highly speculative districts, including Yongsan-gu and Gangnam-gu, all showed signs of a slowdown.
Only 20 transactions were made in Yongsan, a sharp drop from a year earlier when it had 10,021.
Three districts in southern Seoul all experienced a fall, with the lowest figure in Seocho-gu at 64, a drop from 519 a year earlier. Songpa-gu plunged to 82 from 825 and Gangnam-gu to 86 from 690.
A real estate expert said shrinking volumes in the once overheated housing market will continue in the coming months.
“Those that have sought capital gains by housing transactions with the help of low-interest home-backed loans will inevitably face a setback due to higher taxes,” an official from a Seoul-based real estate consultancy said.
“As for housing prices, they will further slide as a bout of new apartments will be made available in the market in spring.”