Buying a home in Korea raises the same questions in the same order. How many subscription points do I have and how much must the account hold? What am I locked into if I win? How much can I borrow? What do I pay between contract and registration? What are the property tax and comprehensive real estate tax while I own it? And what is the capital gains tax when I sell? We read the rules for each question and wrote one guide at a time; this page links 43 of them. It is a map of those guides, in the order you meet them.
1. Subscription points top out at 84, and 35 of them are dependants. Each dependant is 5 points, which waiting cannot earn, and the no-house period runs from a start date, not from whenever you had no home.
2. Your loan limit is the smallest of four. DSR of 40% at banks, an LTV of 40% in regulated areas, the cap by house price, and the stress rate — 3.00%p added for mortgages in the capital region and regulated areas.
3. You can walk away only until the interim payment. Cancelling by forfeiting the deposit works until the other side starts performance, and even after the balance is paid the seller owns the home until registration. Acquisition tax is due within 60 days.
1. Preparing to apply — the account and the points
| Question | The figure to know | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Which deposit rule applies | Where you live, not where you apply — in Seoul or Busan, 3 million won up to 85㎡ and 15 million for any size | Subscription deposit rules |
| Adding up points | 84 = dependants 35 + no-house period 32 + account 17 | Subscription points calculator |
| No-house period | From the earlier of turning 30 and registering a marriage — one birthday splits into 12, 16, 12 and 8 points | Where the no-house period splits |
| Dependants | 5 points each; parents must pass three gates, including three years on the same resident register | Counting dependants |
| Youth subscription account | Interest tax-free up to 5,000,000 won; total pay of 36,000,000 won or less in the year before joining | Youth account checker |
| Subscription income deduction | 40% of up to 3 million won = 1,200,000 won deducted; in the 15% bracket that puts 198,000 won in your hand | Subscription deduction calculator |
2. After you win — the lock-in periods
| Question | The figure to know | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Re-winning restriction | Price-capped or speculation-overheated homes 10 years, subscription-overheated areas 7 years — the whole household, longest period applies | Re-winning restriction calculator |
| Ineligible winner | From the win date: capital region 1 year, elsewhere 6 months, contracting areas 3 months | Ineligible winner calculator |
3. Borrowing — limits and rates
| Question | The figure to know | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Where DSR comes from | Not in any statute — 40% at banks, 50% elsewhere; LTV 40% in regulated areas; KRW 600m cap for homes up to 1.5bn | DSR 40% is not in the law |
| The stress rate | Second half of 2026: 3.00%p for capital-region and regulated-area mortgages, 0.75%p for other mortgages, 1.50%p for credit loans | Stress DSR, second half of 2026 |
| What is left to borrow | In the 50 million won income example, a 1.50%p stress rate cuts the limit by KRW 34.6m | DSR calculator |
| Common miscounts | A 30 million won credit loan (5.50%, 5 years) counts at principal plus interest — 13.8% of DSR | Five places DSR goes wrong |
| Repayment method | On 300 million over 30 years, equal payments and equal principal differ by ₩40.79 million in total interest | Loan interest calculator |
| Fixed or variable | Each 1%p on 100 million won is about 60,000 won a month over 30 years | Fixed vs variable rates |
| Seoul interest support | Loan rate minus the city's subsidy averages 2.65% | Seoul policy loans |
4. From contract to registration — what you pay
| Question | The figure to know | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| When you can still back out | Until the other side starts performance; the sale must be reported within 30 days of the contract | What to check before buying |
| The order of payments | Deposit 10%, interim 40–50%, then the balance; extra costs of 2–4% of the price | Buying an apartment, step by step |
| Land transaction permit zones | Permit needed above 60 m² in residential areas; 2 years of own use for a home | Land transaction permit zones |
| Stamp tax on the contract | Exempt for homes of 100 million won or less; 150,000 won up to 1 billion | Stamp tax |
| Acquisition tax rate | 1% to 3% for one home, set by formula between 600 and 900 million; file within 60 days | Acquisition tax explained |
| The 600–900 million slope | 10 million won between 890 and 900 million adds 923,000 won of tax | The acquisition tax slope |
| Why 85㎡ matters | Above it, the rural special tax is 0.2%, fixed even when the acquisition tax rate triples | The rural special tax and 85㎡ |
| All at once | The same 900 million home costs 29.7 million won as one home up to 85㎡, 120.6 million as a third home over 85㎡ in an adjusted area | Acquisition tax calculator |
5. While you own it — holding taxes and the loan
| Question | The figure to know | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Property tax | Assessed on 1 June; the 43, 44 and 45% ratios for one-home households are in the decree | The July property tax bill |
| Comprehensive real estate tax | Paid 1–15 December; deduction 1.2 billion won for one-home households, 900 million otherwise | Comprehensive vs property tax |
| The three-home surcharge | Below a combined published price of KRW 2.9bn, three homes or five pay the same | Two rate tables |
| Age and holding credits | The table adds to 90% but the law stops at 80%; one-home households only | Age and long-holding credits |
| The tax in one sum | Published price 2 billion, age 70, 20 years held: 532,800 won, exactly a fifth of the tax without the credits | Comprehensive tax calculator |
| Renting it out | Monthly rent taxed above 1.2 billion won standard price or two homes; jeonse at three homes and over 300 million; separate taxation up to 20 million | Rental income tax |
| Refinancing | Prepayment fees now cover real costs only; 10% of principal a year can be repaid free | Refinancing a mortgage · Prepayment fee calculator |
| A lump sum arrives | Keeping 100 million won on deposit for 5 years instead of repaying loses 4.74 million won | Repay or save |
6. Selling or passing it on — capital gains tax
| Question | The figure to know | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| One-home exemption | Held 2 years (and lived in 2 years if bought in an adjusted area); the part above 1.2 billion is taxed; a temporary second home within 3 years | One-home exemption |
| Five steps of the tax | Basic deduction 2.5 million won, rates 6 to 45%, multi-home surcharge +20%p for two homes | Capital gains tax A to Z |
| Above 1.2 billion | A slope, not a cliff — in the example a 1.5 billion sale pays 2,623,500 won | The 1.2 billion apportionment |
| Long-term holding deduction | One-home: 40% for holding + 40% for living there = 80%; residence alone is worth KRW 11.6m | Long-term holding deduction |
| Selling a gifted home | Gifted by a spouse or lineal relative and sold within 10 years: the cost is what the donor paid | Carryover taxation checker |
| Gifting with a jeonse attached | A KRW 1bn home with a 400m deposit gives a sale price of 400m; between family the debt is presumed not taken over | Burdened gift calculator · Burdened gifts |
| With an inherited home | Only a home owned before the inheritance keeps the exemption; one gifted within 2 years is excluded | Inherited-home exemption checker |
Three situations
You are aiming for a subscription. Work out your points first. Fix the start date of your no-house period, and if you want to count your parents, check all three gates: you head the household, three years on the same register, and neither parent owns a home. The deposit rule follows where you live, and a win restricts the whole household.
You are about to sign a purchase. Get your loan limit first: the smallest of DSR, LTV and the price-band cap is what you will actually get. While only the deposit is paid you can still cancel; after the interim payment you practically cannot. File acquisition tax within 60 days.
You are selling or handing it to a child. Check the one-home exemption first (2 years held, 2 years lived in if bought in an adjusted area), and above 1.2 billion use the apportionment. If a child sells a gifted home within 10 years, the cost goes back to what the parent paid.
Checklist
- ☐ Subscription points (start date of the no-house period, dependant gates)
- ☐ Deposit rule by where you live
- ☐ Loan limit: DSR, LTV, price band, stress rate
- ☐ Special terms before the interim payment (e.g. loan refusal)
- ☐ Re-check the register on the balance day; acquisition tax within 60 days
- ☐ Property tax assessed on 1 June; comprehensive tax in December
- ☐ On selling: 2 years held and lived in; apportion above 1.2 billion
Questions that remain
What if I rent first?
Tenant questions are gathered in Renting a Home in Korea, along with how to read the property register and brokerage fees.
Can my home pay me a pension?
The Housing Pension does that. Costs and succession are in Housing Pension, and other retirement topics are in Pensions and Retirement in Korea.
Sources
- Our guides linked above — each records the text it read (Rules on Housing Supply, Banking Supervision Regulations, Civil Act, Real Estate Transaction Reporting Act, Stamp Tax Act, Local Tax Act, Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax Act, Income Tax Act, Inheritance and Gift Tax Act and others) and the date we checked it. The figures on this page come from those guides.
- Not read here. Special supply categories, local ordinances, and policy loan product terms.
- What we added. The order of the stages and the three situations.
Where to check further
- Cheongyak Home, your bank, the local tax office and the National Tax Service — your eligibility, limit and tax.
Written 26 October 2026. The figures come from the linked guides; the grouping is ours.
