Under its new measures, the government plans to further raise the rate of incremental tax for people with more than one home. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of people who own more than 10 homes in South Korea climbed to a new high last year, marking a turnaround from a slight drop the year before, data showed Sunday.
As of end-2018, the number of people with 10 or more homes here came to 37,487, up 2.1 percent from 36,731 a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.
The number of those with more than six but less than 10 homes also rose 2.1 percent to 49,819 over the cited period.
The report comes after the local government announced its latest steps to curb real estate speculation last week that largely target multiple homeowners.
Under its new measures, the government plans to further raise the rate of incremental tax for people with more than one home.
The move follows more than a dozen anti-speculation steps taken since the incumbent administration took office in May 2017, according to earlier reports.
Still, the number of people with multiple homes continued to rise in 2017 and the following year, the latest data showed.
In 2018, the number of people with more than one home jumped 3.4 percent from a year earlier to nearly 2.2 million, while the overall number of homeowners, including those with just one home, gained only 2.5 percent over the same period to some 14 million.
Also, there were 1,882 people who owned 51 or more homes here last year, according to the data.
The number, however, has been on a steady decline after peaking at 2,907 in 2015, slipping to 2,680 in 2016 and 1,988 the following year.
(Yonhap)
