Lee ramps up pressure on multi-home owners

Feb 11, 2026, 08:11 am

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President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on Monday. / Yonhap

President Lee Jae-myung is increasingly directing his real estate normalization message toward multi-home owners and rental business operators, as his administration seeks to stabilize housing prices by expanding market supply.

In recent remarks, Lee has emphasized what he calls a fundamental truth of the housing market — that prices will stabilize only when owners of multiple homes put their properties up for sale. His message underscores the idea that “nothing can stand against supply.”

On Monday, Lee shared a news report on X suggesting the termination of tax benefits for registered rental housing, noting that the issue has already stirred unease among rental business operators. “The 42,500 apartments owned by rental operators in Seoul are by no means a small number,” he wrote.

Lee added that if apartments held by rental operators who own multiple homes are released onto the market — rather than being held indefinitely to maximize capital gains — the impact on price stabilization would be hard to dismiss. He argued that once such owners seek to avoid heavier capital gains taxes on multiple-home sales, a meaningful increase in supply would follow.

His comments signal a clear intention to boost housing supply by ending the grace period for heavier capital gains taxes on multi-home owners and phasing out tax incentives for purchase-based and registered rental housing businesses.

Observers note that Lee’s real estate messaging has become increasingly concrete in recent days. In a post on X the previous day, he suggested several options for ending preferential tax treatment for registered rental housing, including a gradual phaseout after a set period — such as partially eliminating benefits after one to two years, followed by a full repeal — or limiting the policy changes to apartments only.

Lee has also repeatedly pointed out what he sees as inconsistencies in existing tax and rental housing policies. He recently stated that the grace period for heavier capital gains taxes on multi-home owners would end on May 9, and questioned why tax reductions should apply to non-resident single-home owners who hold properties purely for investment or speculative purposes.

By broadening the policy front from multi-home owners to rental business operators, Lee appears determined to bring more housing units onto the market — even at the cost of mounting resistance from property holders.

#real estate supply #multiple-home owners #rental housing #tax benefits #capital gains tax