Ruling Party and Local Governments Criticize Real Estate Measures, Demand "Complete Reassessment"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] The backlash from the 'June 17 Real Estate Measures' is intensifying.

Not only actual homebuyers but also progressive parties, civic groups, ruling party lawmakers, and local governments on the front lines are raising their voices in opposition, calling for a "comprehensive review of the policy." Since the June 17 measures, the government's real estate policy has faced widespread criticism.

According to political circles and local governments on the 30th, at the full meeting of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee held yesterday?the first since the 21st National Assembly?lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (Deobureo Minju Party) heavily criticized the government's real estate measures.

This is quite different from the previous atmosphere where there was a unified voice supporting the government's regulatory strengthening. At the meeting, Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Jeong-sun pointed out, "Suddenly designating Cheongju as a regulated area was a measure lacking sufficient caution," adding, "From the perspective of local residents, housing prices had been recovering, but now it has become a high-priced housing management area."

Jeong requested, "A thorough review is absolutely necessary," and urged, "Please reconsider it even from the standpoint of restoring administrative trust." Cheongju in Chungbuk, Jeong's constituency, was designated as a regulated area along with the metropolitan area and Daejeon in the June 17 measures.

Fellow party member Kim Gyo-heung also demanded a review of the designation of regulated areas. Kim argued, "In the past, regulations were applied selectively by neighborhood, but now they are applied by district," and "With the old downtown areas also included in the regulations, actual owners are facing difficulties in purchasing homes."

Kim's constituency, Seo-gu Gap in Incheon, was also designated as a speculative overheating district under the recent measures. Park Sang-hyuk, a Democratic Party lawmaker representing Gimpo-eul in Gyeonggi, where Gimpo is likely to be designated as a regulated area, mentioned the need to review the measures to ensure that innocent ordinary citizens are not harmed.

Progressive party Justice Party lawmaker Shim Sang-jung also criticized the government measures. Shim stated, "The pinpoint policy of expanding regulated areas is inevitably a belated policy and requires fundamental reconsideration as it harms actual homebuyers."

Immediately after the announcement of the June 17 measures, Shim strongly criticized, saying, "Measures that repeatedly play whack-a-mole with speculative forces only build their resistance and have no effect on suppressing demand."

Local governments on the front lines are also increasingly opposing the government measures head-on. Some of these areas had remained as unsold housing management regions until recently, and they argue that the regulations due to the designation as regulated areas are excessive.

In fact, Anseong, Yangju, and Uijeongbu cities in Gyeonggi, newly included in the regulated areas, sent official letters to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport requesting cancellation of the designation. Anseong and Yangju had been designated as unsold housing management areas in the metropolitan area by the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) until recently, reflecting a depressed housing market, but now they are included in the regulated areas, causing local residents to protest.

Uijeongbu City similarly reported that despite a low housing price increase rate, it was designated as a regulated area, making it difficult for actual buyers to obtain loans.

Incheon City plans to collect opinions from its districts and counties by the end of this month and submit a proposal to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport by the end of next month, including opinions from local lawmakers and the city council. Except for Ganghwa and Ongjin, the entire area of Incheon was designated as a regulated area, with Yeonsu-gu, Namdong-gu, and Seo-gu also designated as speculative overheating districts.

An industry insider said, "Since the government's June 17 measures, there are signs that not only sales prices but also jeonse (long-term deposit rental) prices are rising, failing to stabilize housing prices, and criticism of the current government's real estate policy is expanding," adding, "Although the government has announced supplementary measures or additional regulations, opposition will continue unless there is a comprehensive revision."