South Korean Stars Sell Luxury Property as May Tax Deadline Nears

Seoul Property Sales Put Celebrity Fortunes in Focus

Lee Hyeri has put a Gangnam commercial building on the market for 14.5 billion won, while Kim Tae-hee and Ha Jung-woo are among the South Korean stars who have sold valuable properties as investors prepare for the expiry of a capital gains tax reprieve in early May. The deadline is drawing attention to transactions worth billions of won in some of Seoul's most expensive districts.

As of March 10, 2026, the central concern is a temporary suspension of heavier taxation scheduled to end around May 9. The tax framework includes surcharges of 20 percentage points for owners of two homes and 30 percentage points for those with three or more homes in designated areas. With a maximum basic rate of 45%, the higher surcharge brings the combined national rate to 75%, before local income taxation.

The properties being sold or offered for sale range from apartments at Hannam The Hill in Yongsan to commercial buildings in Gangnam and retail premises in Yeonnam-dong. Some are held through family companies, bringing corporate ownership arrangements into the discussion alongside taxes on people who own several homes.

The sales also stretch across several years. Transactions completed in 2024 sit alongside more recent sales and current listings, showing how stars have been adjusting portfolios over time. For an owner with a large taxable gain, the timing of a sale can change the tax bill by hundreds of millions of won.

Borrowing restrictions add another pressure. A reduction in the loan-to-value limit for certain commercial property purchases, from 70% to 40% beginning in July, is expected to reduce the amount buyers can borrow in popular districts.

What Changes Around the May 9 Deadline?

South Korea's basic capital gains tax rates on real estate run from 6% to 45%. Capital gains are the profit made when an asset is sold, rather than the full sale price. The applicable treatment depends on factors including the seller's income bracket, the holding period, the type of property and whether it qualifies as a primary residence.

Owners of two homes in designated speculative areas in Seoul and neighbouring Gyeonggi Province face an additional 20 percentage points under the stricter framework. Those with three or more homes face another 30 percentage points. Gangnam, Songpa and Yongsan are among the Seoul districts central to the concern about designated areas.

The 75% figure comes from adding the maximum basic rate of 45% to the surcharge of 30 percentage points. Local income surtaxes add approximately another 4.5 percentage points to the bill at the highest basic rate. These components explain why the distinction between the national rate and the amount including local taxation matters when discussing the headline figure.

Former President Moon Jae-in's administration introduced the tougher measures to discourage speculative property investment and cool an overheated market. Former President Yoon Suk Yeol's administration postponed their application, giving owners a period in which to sell or reorganise their holdings under more relaxed treatment.

The grace period is described as expiring in early May, with May 9 identified as the key deadline for the return of stricter taxation. The tax discussion covers both owners of multiple homes and investment through companies, while the celebrity transactions include residential and commercial assets. A seller's bill therefore depends on the ownership arrangement and property involved.

Hyeri Seeks 14.5 Billion Won for Gangnam Building

Lee Hyeri, the 32-year-old actress and Girl's Day member, has listed a commercial building in Gangnam District for 14.5 billion won, approximately $9.8 million. The property has two basement levels and six floors above ground, with an area of 684.4 square metres.

Hyeri bought the site in August 2022 through a family corporation named Empo. The existing structure was demolished and replaced with the current building. Her total estimated investment, including acquisition taxes and construction costs, was 10.7 billion won.

A sale at the asking price would produce approximately 4 billion won in profit before the relevant taxes. The asking price remains a proposed sale value, and no completed sale date has been given.

Kim Tae-hee's Sales Span Homes and Retail Property

Kim Tae-hee, 46, sold an apartment at Hannam The Hill in Yongsan for 12.77 billion won in November 2024. She had purchased the luxury unit for 4.23 billion won in August 2018. The transaction was described as generating roughly 8.4 billion won in capital gains over about seven years.

Kim also reportedly sold a retail building with five floors near Gangnam Station in March for 20.3 billion won. She bought it for 13.2 billion won in June 2014, producing a reported gain of 7.1 billion won. The year of that March sale was not specified.

Kim and her husband, singer and actor Rain, reportedly held real estate worth 81.4 billion won as of 2020. Their holdings included properties in Seoul and a home in Irvine, California. That valuation provides a dated measure of the scale of their property investments.

The apartment and retail building illustrate the variety within celebrity portfolios. A residential unit, a commercial building and an overseas home can sit within the same family's investments, making the property's use and ownership structure important to any tax calculation.

Ha Jung-woo and Other Stars Realise Large Gains

Ha Jung-woo, 48, has reportedly sold two buildings in Seoul's Jongno and Songpa districts. He also made approximately 4.6 billion won when a commercial building in western Seoul sold for 11.9 billion won in March, following its purchase for 7.3 billion won in July 2018.

A Starbucks outlet was a key tenant in that commercial building. Such properties can provide rent while their owners hold them, followed by a capital gain when they are sold. That combination has helped make retail buildings attractive to celebrity investors.

Actor Jo Jung-suk, 46, sold a Gangnam building for 11 billion won in August 2024 through a corporation established with his wife, singer Gummy. The reported capital gain was 7 billion won. Former model Byun Jung-min, 50, sold a small building in Yongsan in June 2024 for a profit of about 2.3 billion won.

Soyou, formerly of Sistar, sold her Yeonnam-dong building in April for nearly twice the 1.5 billion won she paid in 2016. Actress Han Hyo-joo sold a property in central Seoul in November for 8 billion won after buying it for 5.5 billion won in 2017. The years of those April and November sales were not specified.

These transactions show the scale of gains accumulated across apartments, small buildings and larger commercial premises. Their differing purchase dates also show that the assets were held for varying periods before owners decided to sell.

How the Purchases and Sales Unfolded

The property dealings span more than a decade, beginning with purchases made well before the current tax deadline. Several sales took place during 2024, while Hyeri's building remains a listing as of March 10, 2026.

• June 2014: Kim Tae-hee bought the retail building near Gangnam Station for 13.2 billion won.
• 2016 and 2017: Soyou bought her Yeonnam-dong building for 1.5 billion won, and Han Hyo-joo bought her central Seoul property for 5.5 billion won.
• July and August 2018: Ha Jung-woo bought the western Seoul commercial building for 7.3 billion won, and Kim bought her Hannam The Hill apartment for 4.23 billion won.
• August 2022: Hyeri acquired her Gangnam site through Empo before replacing the existing building.
• June and August 2024: Byun Jung-min sold her Yongsan building, and Jo Jung-suk sold his Gangnam property.
• September 2024: Lee Junho underwent a tax investigation concerning a commercial building bought through his family's company.
• November 2024: Kim sold her Hannam The Hill apartment for 12.77 billion won.
• May and July 2026: The tax reprieve is scheduled to expire around May 9, followed by tighter borrowing limits beginning in July.

The sequence places the latest listings within a longer period of buying, redevelopment and sales. It also separates completed transactions from the tax and lending deadlines investors are now approaching.

Family Companies Face Closer Tax Scrutiny

Family corporations and other specially established businesses are common ownership vehicles among wealthy property investors. They can allow different treatment of expenses and depreciation, the accounting process that spreads the cost of a building over time, reducing taxable income during ownership.

The acquisition tax comparison described for these transactions is 4.6% for corporations established for more than five years, against 9.4% for newer entities or individual purchasers. Acquisition tax is paid when a property is bought, making it a separate cost from the tax charged on a later sale.

Lee Junho, a member of 2PM and an actor whose dramas include King the Land, underwent an intensive investigation by the Seoul Regional Tax Office in September 2024. The investigation concerned a commercial building with four floors in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam, purchased for 17.5 billion won through his family's JF Company.

The transaction attracted suspicions of tax avoidance through its corporate structure. His agency, JYP Entertainment, said any additional taxes assessed had been paid in full and attributed the assessment to differences in interpretation between tax authorities and tax agents, rather than deliberate evasion.

The case brings the National Tax Service's scrutiny into the wider discussion about celebrity property ownership. A company can affect acquisition costs, deductions and the treatment of income, giving tax authorities several parts of a transaction to examine.

July Borrowing Limits Could Narrow the Buyer Pool

Property investors are also confronting tighter access to loans. The Moon administration expanded debt service ratio and loan-to-value restrictions to cover non-residential assets, including land, shopping arcades and officetels.

A debt service ratio measures how much of a borrower's income goes towards repaying debt. A loan-to-value ratio, usually shortened to LTV, limits a loan to a share of the property's value. Both affect how much money an investor can borrow.

The current LTV limit for loans from local financial institutions is 70%. Beginning in July, loans for non-residential buildings in popular areas including Gangnam, Songpa and Yongsan will be capped at 40% of property value. The change reduces the maximum loan share by 30 percentage points.

Cho Hyun-taek, a researcher at the private real estate research organisation SG Lab, warned that reduced access to credit could affect investors and prices as owners seek sales before July.

With the LTV regulations limiting access to loans retail investors will see more obstacles in their investments. With landlords in the popular areas seeking to offload their properties before July, the prices are expected to see some volatilities.

The tax and lending changes affect different sides of a transaction. Sellers are considering how much of a gain they will retain, while buyers face limits on the debt they can use to finance a purchase. Together, those pressures could make price negotiations more difficult.

Why the Sales Matter Beyond Entertainment

South Korean celebrities have long directed substantial earnings into property. Income from dramas, films and K-pop exports has grown during the Korean Wave's global expansion, while luxury fashion houses and other international brands pay large sums for endorsements by stars including Blackpink and BTS members and prominent actors.

Gangnam has been a particular attraction because property values there have outpaced inflation and traditional investment returns. Commercial buildings in fashionable districts offer rental income as well as the possibility of gains when sold. Some celebrity portfolios extend across multiple buildings and are valued in hundreds of billions of won.

Luxury apartments in Gangnam routinely command between $3 million and $7 million, placing the market far beyond what South Korea's average salaries would suggest many households can afford. Wealthy investors outside entertainment face the same questions about taxes, financing and the returns left after costs.

The policy aims to move money away from speculative property holdings and towards productive economic activity. Critics argue that tighter rules may instead encourage investors to choose other assets or move money overseas.

The timing of a sale can also reflect financial planning. Selling before the tax deadline allows an owner to retain the current treatment, while buyers enter knowing about the coming fiscal burden. This can create a burst of transactions before a deadline and cooler activity afterwards as owning several properties becomes less financially attractive.

Celebrity sales have made that adjustment unusually visible. Hyeri's proposed sale, Kim's completed transactions and the gains recorded by Ha and others show how much money is involved, while the May and July deadlines put both tax costs and borrowing capacity at the centre of the next decisions.

The Essentials

• The temporary capital gains tax reprieve is scheduled to end around May 9, 2026.
• Surcharges add 20 percentage points for owners of two homes and 30 percentage points for those with three or more in designated areas.
• The maximum basic rate of 45% plus the higher surcharge reaches 75% before local income taxation.
• Hyeri is asking 14.5 billion won for her Gangnam commercial building, following an estimated investment of 10.7 billion won.
• Kim Tae-hee, Ha Jung-woo, Jo Jung-suk, Byun Jung-min, Soyou and Han Hyo-joo are among the stars whose property sales feature large gains.
• Family companies face tax scrutiny, including the September 2024 investigation concerning Lee Junho's 17.5 billion won building purchase.
• Beginning in July, the LTV limit for certain non-residential buildings in popular districts is set to fall from 70% to 40%.