[Exclusive] Record High in Housing and Building Gifts... 55 Trillion Won During 5 Years of Moon Administration

Park Jeong-ha, People Power Party Lawmaker, Points Out "Wrong Regulations → Real Estate Price Surge → Asset Polarization"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Bo-ryeong] During the five years of the Moon Jae-in administration, the gifting of houses and buildings surged, with a total of 55 trillion won worth of real estate passed down over the period. The sharp increase in real estate gifts to the 2030 generation, who found it difficult to secure their own homes due to soaring property prices, has led to criticism that the steep rise in real estate holding tax rates has fueled the inheritance of asset polarization.

According to the "Annual Real Estate (Houses and Buildings) Gift Reporting Status from 2017 to 2021" submitted by the National Tax Service to Park Jeong-ha, a member of the People Power Party, the gifts made last year totaled 84,665 cases worth 24.2204 trillion won. Both the number of cases and the amount on an annual basis were the highest ever recorded. The total gifts over the five years also reached a record high with 248,448 cases (55.2462 trillion won).

The number of gift cases has steadily increased since 2017. From 33,043 cases (5.3637 trillion won) in 2017, it surpassed 40,000 cases in 2018, and recorded 43,066 cases (8.0167 trillion won) and 46,546 cases (9.8729 trillion won) in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Rep. Park pointed out, "The surge in house and building gifts is one of the side effects of the Moon Jae-in administration's failed real estate policies," adding, "The severe real estate regulations over five years caused property prices to skyrocket and led to asset polarization."

Looking at the data by generation, the scale of houses and buildings gifted to the 2030 generation increased significantly. For those in their 20s, the number of gift cases was 2,985 (515.1 billion won) in 2017 but surged to 14,389 cases (4.4169 trillion won) last year. Similarly, for those in their 30s, the figures rose from 6,871 cases (1.3755 trillion won) to 20,913 cases (7.5178 trillion won) over the same period. Comparing 2017 and last year, the scale of gifts received by the 2030 generation increased 3.5 times in number of cases and 6.3 times in amount, far exceeding the overall generational growth rate.

Professor Kwon Dae-jung of Myongji University Graduate School of Real Estate explained, "As real estate prices rose, taxes such as comprehensive real estate tax increased significantly. Since holding houses and buildings results in continuous tax burdens, many have transferred these assets to their children. The comprehensive real estate tax is paid annually, but gift tax is paid only once, which seems to explain this phenomenon."

Rep. Park emphasized, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration must devise measures to alleviate the deepening asset gap and conduct thorough investigations with strong scrutiny to ensure there are no illegal acts such as loopholes or tax evasion during the gifting process."