South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has found a buyer for his personal residence, which he put up for sale, and a contract is about to be signed.
According to reports from HA Viewpoint and insiders at the presidential office, the government is considering imposing a heavier comprehensive real estate tax on ultra-high-priced homes. By putting his own home on the market, the president is walking the talk to back up the administration’s housing market policies.
Thanks to years of ultra-low interest rates, speculative trading has run rampant in South Korea’s housing market. Since taking office in June 2025, Lee has made curbing housing speculation and stabilizing prices a top priority, rolling out measures like tightening mortgage lending and raising taxes on multiple-home owners.
As of the first half of this year, apartment prices in Seoul have been rising for 72 consecutive weeks. Forecasts suggest prices in the capital will still grow by around 4.2% annually. In semiconductor hub areas like Hwaseong in Gyeonggi Province, prices jumped 11.3% in the first half, while non-core regions like Daegu and Gwangju saw flat or falling prices.
The red-hot housing market is largely fueled by the stock market. South Korea’s stock market has been one of the most extreme globally over the past year. Since mid-2025, driven by an AI-powered memory supercycle, the KOSPI index surged from around 3,100 points to over 8,100 points by May 2026, with gains nearly hitting 100% at one point.
Data from the Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport show that from January to April 2026, homebuyers raised a cumulative 3.72 trillion won (about 16.9 billion yuan) by selling stocks and bonds. That share of home-buying funds jumped from 4.9% in January to 13.2% in April.
During the same period, Seoul absorbed over 2.4 trillion won (around 10.9 billion yuan). In hot spots like Gangnam, all-cash home purchases hit 41.2%, with young people in their 30s leading the charge. Singer Psy once showed off the flashy, luxurious lifestyle of Gangnam’s wealthy in a viral music video.
At the same time, skyrocketing construction costs and a shortage of workers have caused a sharp drop in new home completions across South Korea this year, reducing the number of available properties and further pushing up prices in key areas.
On July 16, 2026, the Bank of Korea raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.75%—the first hike in three and a half years. Analysts say the move will cool the housing market by raising the cost of borrowing, especially as banks simultaneously tighten mortgage lending.
Meanwhile, the widening spread on bank loans is making it much harder for people to buy homes, curbing speculative demand. A previous study by the Korea Financial Research Institute showed that for every 0.25 percentage point increase in the benchmark rate, home prices in Seoul and the surrounding capital area fall by about 0.6% a year later.
Lee, now 61, grew up in a poor family of seven in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province. He married Kim Hye-kyung in 1991.
According to the regular asset disclosure report from the government’s Public Officials Ethics Committee, as of December 31, 2025, Lee and his family had total assets of 4.977 billion won (about 22.84 million yuan). His own ETF holdings gained value from the stock market rally.
In 1998, he and Kim bought a 164-square-meter home in Bundang-gu, Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, for 360 million won (about 1.63 million yuan). They lived there until moving into the presidential residence.
As a key satellite city south of Seoul, high-end homes in Seongnam are relatively easy to sell, but Lee’s house clearly isn’t one of them.
According to the same source at the presidential office, Lee put the home on the market in February 2026, asking for 2.9 billion won (about 13.17 million yuan)—about 10% below current market prices in the area. Due to the lengthy procedures for land transactions, the formal contract has been delayed until now, but it’s expected to be signed within days.