Last month, the proportion of multi-property owners holding two or more aggregate buildings (such as apartments, officetels, and row houses) nationwide dropped to its lowest level in 7 years and 9 months.

The proportion of those owning three aggregate buildings was also found to be the lowest in 7 years and 7 months.

According to statistics from the Supreme Court registry information plaza today (the 28th), the multi-property owner index for aggregate buildings nationwide stood at 16.019 last August.

This is the lowest figure since November 2018, when it recorded 16.015, marking a low in 7 years and 9 months.

The Supreme Court's aggregate building multi-property owner index measures the proportion of individuals owning two or more properties among all aggregate building owners, categorized by the number of holdings ranging from 2 to 101 or more properties.

The total sum of the multi-property owner index represents the proportion of owners holding two or more aggregate buildings, and the remainder accounts for those owning a single aggregate building.

A multi-property owner index sum of 16.019 means that approximately 16% of all aggregate building owners hold two or more properties, while the remaining 84% own only a single property.

However, since single-family home owners are excluded from the aggregate building multi-property owner index, this figure does not entirely coincide with the overall proportion of multi-home owners.

The multi-property owner index for aggregate buildings peaked at 16.698 in July 2020, the highest since the Supreme Court began releasing related statistics in 2010.

Since then, following the July 10 Real Estate Measures in the same year—which raised the heavy capital gains tax rates for multi-property owners in regulated areas from the previous 10-20 percentage points to the current 20-30 percentage points, alongside the abolition of the apartment rental business system—the proportion declined, dropping to 16.128 by the end of December 2021.

The multi-property owner index for aggregate buildings showed a clear upward trend with the deferral of the heavy capital gains tax for multi-property owners upon the launch of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration in May 2022, rising to 16.529 by July 2024 and maintaining 16.502 through the end of the year.

Subsequently, the downward trend continued through the martial law crisis, the impeachment political situation, and the presidential election, falling to 16.469 in May of last year when the Lee Jae-myung administration took office, dropping to 16.345 in January of this year when the resurrection of heavy capital gains taxes for multi-property owners was signaled, and plunging to levels seen about 7 years ago last month due to the multi-property owner tax-increase stance and the disclosure of tax reform proposals.

(Photo: Yonhap News)