Announcement of 2026 National Standard Housing and Land Officially Assessed Values
The detached house in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, owned by Myunghee Lee, Chairwoman of Shinsegae Group, has maintained its position as the most expensive standard detached house in the country for the 11th consecutive year.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's announcement on December 17 regarding the 2026 official prices for standard houses and standard land nationwide, the official price for Chairwoman Lee's detached house next year is set at 31.35 billion won, a 5.48% increase from this year's 29.72 billion won. With a total floor area of 2,862 square meters, this house has ranked first in the official price of standard detached houses nationwide every year since it was designated as a standard house in 2016.
The most expensive standard detached house nationwide, owned by Myunghee Lee, Chairman of Shinsegae Group, located in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
The second most expensive standard detached house is known to be owned by Haewook Lee, Chairman of DL Group, located in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu. Its official price for next year is 20.3 billion won, up 5.67% from this year. In third place is Seungjiwon, the guesthouse of Samsung Group, owned by the Ho-Am Foundation in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu. Its official price is 19 billion won, a 6.15% increase from this year.
In fourth place is a detached house in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, owned by Kyungbae Suh, Chairman of Amorepacific, which was valued at 18.38 billion won, up 5.57% from last year. A detached house in Itaewon-dong, reportedly co-owned by the family of Kyungwon Saeki, ranked fifth at 18.17 billion won.
The sixth most expensive is a detached house in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, reportedly owned by Jungho An, CEO of Simmons, at 16.73 billion won. The seventh is a detached house in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, believed to be owned by Changu Park, Chairman of Kumho Petrochemical Group, which rose 5.56% from last year to 16.53 billion won.
The ranking of the top 10 most expensive standard detached houses remained unchanged from last year. Of these 10 houses, seven are located in Hannam-dong and Itaewon-dong in Yongsan-gu, two are in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, and one is in Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu. There are 916 standard houses nationwide with an official price exceeding 2 billion won, with 882 of them, or over 96%, located in Seoul. Considering that there are 28 such houses in Gyeonggi Province, more than 99% are concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area.
For standard land, the site with the highest official land price next year is a 169.3-square-meter plot in 1-ga, Chungmuro, Jung-gu, Seoul, at 18.84 million won per square meter. This site, where cosmetics company Nature Republic once operated a large store, saw its land price rise by 4.38% from this year. The land has maintained its top ranking nationwide for 23 years since 2004. The second most expensive site is the Woori Bank property in Myeongdong 2-ga, which rose 4.57% over the same period to 18.76 million won per square meter for next year.
As official prices rise, property holding taxes are also expected to increase. According to simulation data from Byungtak Woo, Premier Pathfinder Specialist at Shinhan Bank, the total holding tax for the most expensive standard detached house is estimated to be around 511.42 million won next year, a 7.18% increase from this year.
The appearance of Nature Republic Myeongdong World Branch in Myeongdong, Seoul during its operation. The store was located on the top-ranked site in the national standard land price announcement and is reported to have closed earlier this year. Photo by Yonhap News
The holding tax is calculated as the sum of property tax and comprehensive real estate tax (including the special rural tax), based on the assumption of single ownership of one house by a 59-year-old with no special deductions. Therefore, there may be differences from the actual amount imposed. For the top 10 standard houses, Woo estimates the increase in holding tax could range from a low of just over 7% to over 10% in some cases.
Since individual official land prices have not yet been released, it is difficult to calculate exact figures, but holding tax increases are expected to be particularly pronounced for high-priced houses. Applying the average rate of increase by district in Seoul, Woo estimates that the holding tax for a multi-family house in Nonhyeon-dong with an official price exceeding 2 billion won could rise by more than 13%.
The holding tax for a detached house in Seongsu-dong is expected to increase by 14%, and for a multi-family house in Seokchon-dong, Songpa-gu, by more than 12%. For detached and multi-family houses priced between 1.2 billion and 2 billion won, the increase is expected to range from the low 7% range to over 10% in some cases. For houses priced between 900 million and 1.2 billion won, the holding tax burden is expected to rise by 3% to 9%.
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