Voters Who Say the Government Botched Its Housing Policy Are Twice Those Who Say It Didn't
Six out of ten voters (58.5%) rated the Lee Jae-myung government's housing policy as "wrong," double the share who said it was done "well" (29.7%). The findings come from the fifth wave of a voter panel survey commissioned by The Hankyoreh and the Korean Association of Party Studies and conducted by research firm STI (released on the 22nd). In the fourth survey in May, positive assessments led at 53.3%, but the evaluation flipped in just four months.
By region, negative assessments were highest among respondents in Seoul, at 65.9% (versus 23.7% positive), followed by Busan, Ulsan, and South Gyeongsang (62.5%) and Gangwon and Jeju (62.4%). In the fourth survey last May, Seoul's positive assessments stood at 48.8% and negative ones at 43.2% — over four months, positive views fell 25.1 percentage points while negative views rose 22.7 points.
On the centerpiece of the real estate tax reform bill the government submitted to the National Assembly on the 3rd — differentiated taxation for non-resident single-home owners and high-value homes — support (50.6%) outweighed opposition (38.6%). In Seoul alone, however, opposition (47.3%) exceeded support (45.4%), while supporters outnumbered opponents in every other region. The tax reform proposal keeps the current comprehensive real estate tax basic deduction for non-resident single-home owners at 1.2 billion won (based on official assessed value) and revamps the capital gains tax long-term holding deduction to center on actual residence. Within the ruling Democratic Party, voices are calling for raising the basic deduction for non-resident single-home owners from the current 1.2 billion won to 1.4 billion won, the same level as for resident owners.
On the government's plan under review to use part of the Yongsan Park site for housing supply, support (44.4%) and opposition (43.4%) differed by a narrow 1.0 percentage point. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon remains firmly opposed to using Yongsan Park for housing. The government envisioned building youth housing on part of the site, but faced strong opposition from young people. Among those in their 20s, 43.1% opposed and 26.0% supported the plan; among those in their 30s, opposition (49.4%) also exceeded support (38.6%).
