IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jhouse/v72y2026ics1051137726000215.html

The impact of the comprehensive real estate holding tax on house prices and rental pass-through

Author

Listed:
  • Hong, NamJoo
  • Hwang, Youngjae

Abstract

This paper investigates whether a progressive property tax can significantly and immediately influence housing prices, focusing on the case of South Korea’s Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax (CREHT). The CREHT became more progressive through reforms in 2019 and 2021, and was subsequently relaxed in 2023. Based on the sequential Difference-in-Differences (DiD) framework, we find consistent evidence that housing price disparities narrowed following the tax hikes and widened after the tax cuts. These results remain robust across different group specifications and alternative time windows. On the other hand, comparing regions with high and low shares of non-local ownership, we find evidence that regions more strongly affected by the CREHT experienced a larger shift in housing demand from higher-priced to lower-priced units. Additionally, the rental housing market exhibits evidence of tax pass-through to tenants for CREHT-targeted high-end housing units. Our findings imply that while progressive property taxation may reduce wealth inequality among property owners, it may exacerbate inequality between landlords and tenants.

Suggested Citation

  • Hong, NamJoo & Hwang, Youngjae, 2026. "The impact of the comprehensive real estate holding tax on house prices and rental pass-through," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhouse:v:72:y:2026:i:c:s1051137726000215
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhe.2026.102140
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1051137726000215
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jhe.2026.102140?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Musgrave, Richard A, 1974. "Is a Property Tax on Housing Regressive?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(2), pages 222-229, May.
    2. Hamilton, Bruce W, 1976. "Capitalization of Intrajurisdictional Differences in Local Tax Prices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 66(5), pages 743-753, December.
    3. repec:wyi:journl:002186 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Gervais, Martin, 2002. "Housing taxation and capital accumulation," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(7), pages 1461-1489, October.
    5. Carroll, Robert & Yinger, John, 1994. "Is the Property Tax a Benefit Tax? The Case of Rental Housing," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 47(2), pages 295-316, June.
    6. Peter T. Chinloy, 1978. "Effective Property Taxes and Tax Capitalization," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 11(4), pages 740-750, November.
    7. Siddhartha Biswas & Indraneel Chakraborty & Rong Hai, 2017. "Income Inequality, Tax Policy, and Economic Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 0(601), pages 688-727, May.
    8. Martin Feldstein, 1974. "Incidence of a Capital Income Tax in a Growing Economy with Variable Savings Rates," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(4), pages 505-513.
    9. Hansjörg Blöchliger & Balázs Égert & Bastien Alvarez & Aleksandra Paciorek, 2015. "The stabilisation properties of immovable property taxation: Evidence from OECD countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1237, OECD Publishing.
    10. Dolls, Mathias & Fuest, Clemens & Krolage, Carla & Neumeier, Florian, 2025. "Who bears the burden of real estate transfer taxes? Evidence from the German housing market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    11. Jeremy G. Moulton & Bennie D. Waller & Scott A. Wentland, 2018. "Who Benefits from Targeted Property Tax Relief? Evidence from Virginia Elections," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(2), pages 240-264, March.
    12. James M. Poterba, 1984. "Tax Subsidies to Owner-Occupied Housing: An Asset-Market Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 99(4), pages 729-752.
    13. Thomas Piketty & Nancy Qian, 2009. "Income Inequality and Progressive Income Taxation in China and India, 1986-2015," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 53-63, April.
    14. Tommaso Oliviero & Agnese Sacchi & Annalisa Scognamiglio & Alberto Zazzaro, 2019. "House prices and immovable property tax: Evidence from OECD countries," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(4), pages 776-792, November.
    15. Elinder, Mikael & Persson, Lovisa, 2017. "House price responses to a national property tax reform," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 18-39.
    16. Stacy Sirmans & Dean Gatzlaff & David Macpherson, 2008. "The History of Property Tax Capitalizationin Real Estate," Journal of Real Estate Literature, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 327-344, January.
    17. Angelovska Julijana & Časni Anita Čeh, 2022. "The influence of recurrent property income and expenditure on house prices in European Union countries: Evidence from a panel model," Croatian Review of Economic, Business and Social Statistics, Paradigm, vol. 8(1), pages 32-40, June.
    18. Keen, Michael & Papapanagos, Harry & Shorrocks, Anthony, 2000. "Tax Reform and Progressivity," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(460), pages 50-68, January.
    19. Bai, ChongEn & Li, Qi & Ouyang, Min, 2014. "Property taxes and home prices: A tale of two cities," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 180(1), pages 1-15.
    20. Aaron, Henry, 1974. "A New View of Property Tax Incidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(2), pages 212-221, May.
    21. Cremer, Helmuth & Gahvari, Firouz, 1998. "On Optimal Taxation of Housing," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 315-335, May.
    22. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-01157487 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    24. Bruno Martorano, 2014. "The Impact of Uruguay's 2007 Tax Reform on Equity and Efficiency," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 32(6), pages 701-714, November.
    25. Fatih Guvenen & Gueorgui Kambourov & Burhan Kuruscu & Sergio Ocampo & Daphne Chen, 2023. "Use It or Lose It: Efficiency and Redistributional Effects of Wealth Taxation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(2), pages 835-894.
    26. Du, Zaichao & Zhang, Lin, 2015. "Home-purchase restriction, property tax and housing price in China: A counterfactual analysis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 188(2), pages 558-568.
    27. Siddhartha Biswas & Indraneel Chakraborty & Rong Hai, 2017. "Income Inequality, Tax Policy, and Economic Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 0(601), pages 688-727, May.
    28. Bossmann, Martin & Kleiber, Christian & Walde, Klaus, 2007. "Bequests, taxation and the distribution of wealth in a general equilibrium model," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(7-8), pages 1247-1271, August.
    29. Bardhan, Pranab & Bowles, Samuel & Gintis, Herbert, 2000. "Wealth inequality, wealth constraints and economic performance," Handbook of Income Distribution, in: A.B. Atkinson & F. Bourguignon (ed.), Handbook of Income Distribution, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 10, pages 541-603, Elsevier.
    30. Thomas Piketty, 2015. "About Capital in the Twenty-First Century," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 48-53, May.
    31. Kang, Yankun & Sun, Weizeng & Wan, Guanghua & Yang, Chen, 2024. "Property tax and housing wealth inequality: Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    32. Fischel, William A, 1992. "Property Taxation and the Tiebout Model: Evidence for the Benefit View from Zoning and Voting," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 30(1), pages 171-177, March.
    33. Mattauch, Linus & Klenert, David & Stiglitz, Joseph E. & Edenhofer, Ottmar, 2022. "Overcoming wealth inequality by capital taxes that finance public investment," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 383-395.
    34. Christian Weller & Manita Rao, 2010. "Progressive Tax Policy and Economic Stability," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(3), pages 629-659.
    35. Esteban, Joan & Ray, Debraj, 1994. "On the Measurement of Polarization," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(4), pages 819-851, July.
    36. Pollakowski, Henry O, 1973. "The Effects of Property Taxes and Local Public Spending on Property Values: A Comment and Further Results," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(4), pages 994-1003, July-Aug..
    37. England, Richard W. & Zhao, Min Qiang & Huang, Ju-Chin, 2013. "Impacts of property taxation on residential real estate development," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 45-53.
    38. Christopher Coombs & Nikias Sarafoglou & William Crosby, 2012. "Property Taxation, Capitalization, and the Economic Implications of Raising Property Taxes," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 18(2), pages 151-161, May.
    39. Edward L. Glaeser & Erzo F. P. Luttmer, 2003. "The Misallocation of Housing Under Rent Control," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(4), pages 1027-1046, September.
    40. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    41. Carroll, Robert & Yinger, John, 1994. "Is the Property Tax a Benefit Tax? The Case of Rental Housing," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 47(2), pages 295-316, June.
    42. Lang, Kevin & Jian, Tianlun, 2004. "Property taxes and property values: evidence from Proposition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 439-457, May.
    43. Richard W. England, 2016. "Tax Incidence and Rental Housing: A Survey and Critique of Research," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 69(2), pages 435-460, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kang, Yankun & Sun, Weizeng & Wan, Guanghua & Yang, Chen, 2024. "Property tax and housing wealth inequality: Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Chengrui Xiao & Bo Zhou, 2023. "Property taxes and rental housing: Evidence from China," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 51(4), pages 931-958, July.
    3. Konstantin A. Kholodilin, 2025. "The Impact of Governmental Regulations on Housing Market: Findings of a Meta-Study of Empirical Literature," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2113, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Lyu, Xueying, 2024. "Revisiting property tax capitalization," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    5. You, Yu & Shao, Xinyue, 2026. "When property becomes liability: Housing wealth and public support for property taxation in urban China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    6. Fullerton, Don & Metcalf, Gilbert E., 2002. "Tax incidence," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 26, pages 1787-1872, Elsevier.
    7. Sergio Gárate & Anthony Pennington‐Cross, 2023. "Heterogeneity in property tax capitalization: Evidence from municipalities in Wisconsin," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 51(5), pages 1285-1314, September.
    8. Rotberg, Shahar & Steinberg, Joseph B., 2024. "Mortgage interest deductions? Not a bad idea after all," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    9. George R. Zodrow, 2019. "Intrajurisdictional Capitalization and the Incidence of the Property Tax," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: George R Zodrow (ed.), TAXATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE Selected Essays of George R. Zodrow, chapter 16, pages 489-522, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    10. David J. Schwegman & John Yinger, 2020. "The Shifting of the Property Tax on Urban Renters: Evidence from New York State’s Homestead Tax Option," Working Papers 20-43, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    11. Liberati, Danilo & Loberto, Michele, 2019. "Taxation and housing markets with search frictions," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    12. H. Spencer Banzhaf & Kyle Mangum, 2019. "Capitalization as a Two-Part Tariff: The Equilibrium Structure of Housing Prices," NBER Working Papers 25699, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Hui An & Qianmiao Zou & Ying Zhang & Rakesh Gupta, 2019. "Property Prices: How Effective is a Property-Purchasing Limitation Policy for Managing Affordability?," International Real Estate Review, Global Social Science Institute, vol. 22(2), pages 197-229.
    14. Du, Zaichao & Zhang, Lin, 2015. "Home-purchase restriction, property tax and housing price in China: A counterfactual analysis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 188(2), pages 558-568.
    15. Löffler, Max & Siegloch, Sebastian, 2015. "Property Taxation, Local Labor Markets and Rental Housing," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112967, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    16. George R. Zodrow, 2007. "The Property Tax Incidence Debate and the Mix of State and Local Finance of Local Public Expenditures," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 53(4), pages 495-521, December.
    17. Lawrence M. Kessler & Donald Bruce, 2024. "A SALT on real estate? Housing market and migration responses to the limit on the state and local tax deduction," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 42(4), pages 683-704, October.
    18. Livy, Mitchell R., 2018. "Intra-school district capitalization of property tax rates," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 227-236.
    19. Grodecka, Anna & Hull, Isaiah, 2019. "The Impact of Local Taxes and Public Services on Property Values," Working Paper Series 374, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    20. Euijune Kim & Ayoung Kim & Kyung-Min Nam, 2024. "Impacts of demand and supply-side interventions on South Korea’s housing markets: a dynamic housing-CGE analysis," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 73(1), pages 397-429, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jhouse:v:72:y:2026:i:c:s1051137726000215. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622881 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.