Sales of homes in South Korea more than doubled in January from a year earlier, data showed on Thursday, indicating a recovery in the local property market.
The number of home transactions came to 58,846 last month, up 117.4 percent from the same month last year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The ministry attributed the increase partly to a base effect stemming from a large drop posted in January 2013.
“Home transactions dropped by large margins in January 2013 due to the termination of temporary cuts on acquisition tax, but in January 2014, transactions increased on a permanent reduction of acquisition tax and an outlook of improving conditions,” it said in a press release.
Since the start of the year, acquisition tax on properties that exceed 600 million won ($564,000) has been permanently reduced to 1 percent of the price from 2 percent, with the tax rate on properties valued at 900 million won or over also cut to 3 percent from 4 percent. (Yonhap)
