The official values of some 220-thousand stand-alone residential homes across the nation increased by over nine percent this year. 

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on Thursday that the officially appraised values for single-family detached houses nationwide increased by nine-point-13 percent. It marks the largest growth since 2005. 

The official prices for Seoul also posted a record growth at 17-point-75 percent. In particular, Yongsan, Gangnam and Mapo districts with a number of high-end detached homes saw the prices soar by over 30 percent this year. 

The ministry said it raised the official values for those homes this year amid criticism that they are significantly lower than those for apartments. 

The "official" values for detached homes which are used for taxation now reflect 53 percent of the market price, up one-point-two percentage points from a year earlier. The comparable figure for apartments stood at 68 percent last year.