▲ President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Feb. 10, 2026. (Yonhap)

Lee-housing prices

Lee steps up verbal warning against owners of multiple homes

By Kim Eun-jung

SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that owners of multiple homes should not avoid risks and responsibilities associated with their investments if housing prices are normalized, stepping up his verbal warning against them.

Hardening his resolve to stabilize the overheated housing market in the Seoul metropolitan area, Lee shared a link to a news report that pointed to weakening market expectations for housing price increases.

"People know that the real estate market, particularly the apartment market in the Seoul metropolitan area, is abnormal and support efforts to normalize it," Lee wrote on the social media platform X.

"The government has powerful tools for normalization, including regulations, taxation, finance and supply measures. The issue is whether the authorities have the willingness and determination," he added.

Lee said people are free to maintain multiple homes, own properties for investment purposes or hold luxury homes but warned they "cannot avoid the risks and responsibilities that come with the normalization of these abnormalities."

Lee has repeatedly urged owners of multiple homes to sell their properties ahead of the planned expiration of the heavy capital gains tax exemptions, which are set to expire in May.

He has also instructed the Cabinet and the presidential office to review regulations on loan extensions and refinancing for existing owners of multiple homes.

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]