Property taxes on high-priced apartments in affluent southern Seoul will be increased next year by as much as seven times the present rates. The move is part of the government’s efforts to check the recent surge in housing prices and fight real estate speculation.

However, under the new tax plan, apartment owners in northern Seoul and most cities in Kyonggi Province will pay 20-30 percent less property taxes starting next year.

The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs announced the plan on Wednesday.

The ministry said that property tax rates will be calculated based on the market value of apartment prices, not on floor space.

Presently, the property taxes are levied based solely on residential floor space, causing landlords in northern Seoul to complain that they are unfairly taxed because their apartments are worth less than those of their counterparts in southern Seoul.

According to the new tax scheme, property taxes on an apartment with a floor space of 38 pyong (125.4 square meters) in Taechi-dong, southern Seoul, will increase by 635 percent to 926,000 won in 2004 from this year’s 126,000 won.

But, the tax on an apartment with a floor space of 77 pyong (254.1 square meters) in Kimpo, just northwest of Seoul, will be cut by 31.6 percent to 800,000 won from this year’s 1.17 million won.

The ministry predicts that property taxes on 5.14 million apartments, or 73.4 percent of the nation’s total 6.97 million apartments will be increased.

Thus, property tax revenue generated by the government is expected to grow by 10.8 percent to 1.34 trillion won next year.

The ministry said it plans to finalize the new tax scheme by the end of this year after holding a public hearing in order to enforce the new rule early next year.