Lee puts sole apartment on market to underscore housing stabilization push

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a town hall meeting at Jeonbuk National University in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, Friday. (Yonhap)

President Lee Jae Myung has put his only apartment on the market to underscore his commitment to stabilizing the real estate market, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.

The presidential office said Lee and first lady Kim Hea Kyung jointly own the apartment in Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and listed it for sale. The couple has held the property for 29 years since purchasing it in 1998.

“Although he has been a single-homeowner for residential purposes, the move is seen as an effort to personally demonstrate to the public his resolve to normalize the real estate market,” presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a statement.

“The apartment has been listed at a price below last year’s actual transaction price and the current market level,” she added.

Lee is pushing to stabilize the housing market through measures including the reinstatement of heavier capital gains taxes on multiple homeowners as of May 10 this year. The tax levies have been suspended and extended on an annual basis since the Yoon Suk Yeol administration took office on May 10, 2022.

A senior presidential office official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lee “appears to have decided to put the apartment up for sale based on his long-held view that owning a home is more of a loss than a gain.”

“It seems he believes it would be far more economically beneficial to sell the property now and invest the proceeds in financial products such as ETFs or other instruments,” the official said.

The official added that Lee "appears to think it would be more profitable to sell at the current peak and repurchase at a lower price."

“If the real estate market normalizes, wouldn’t it be more advantageous to buy a home again after completing his term, as many have suggested?" the offcial said.

While denouncing Lee’s housing market policy, the main opposition People Power Party had previously called on him to sell the apartment, which he does not currently reside in as he lives at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong.

Earlier this month, when pro–Democratic Party YouTubers followed Rep. Jang Dong-hyeokand asked, “Shouldn’t you sell your house?" Jang, who owns six houses, replied with a smile, “If the president sells his, I will too.”

Since late Jaunary, Lee has frequently sent sharply worded messages on stabilizing the real estate market on his official X.

“We will mobilize all policy tools to create a situation in which, not only multipel homeowners but also single-homeowners whose property is not held for residential use but for investment or speculation, find selling more advantageous than holding," Lee warned in a Thursday night X post. “Ultrahigh-priced homes will be subject to a level of corresponding burden and regulation comparable to that of the capitals of advanced countries."