'Rise of Speculative Real Estate' Pyeongtaek Hyeondeok-myeon and Poseung-eup Designated as 'Land Transaction Permission Zones'

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has designated Hyundeok-myeon and Poseung-eup within the Hyundeok District of Pyeongtaek City, where planned real estate speculation has been rampant due to corporations concentrating land purchases since April, as a "Land Transaction Permission Zone."

This is an additional measure taken a month and a half after Gyeonggi Province designated 29 forest areas in 29 cities and counties within the province as land transaction permission zones on June 29 to block speculation by planned real estate companies.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 10th that it recently held an urban planning committee meeting and designated 2.32㎢ areas including Kwon-gwan-ri and Jang-su-ri in Hyundeok-myeon and Sin-yeong-ri in Poseung-eup within the Hyundeok District as land transaction permission zones. From the 15th of this month until August 14, 2022, land transactions in these areas require permission for two years.

These two areas have been identified as places where corporations, presumed to be planned real estate companies, have concentrated purchases of commercial land within the Hyundeok District since April, recruiting investors through exaggerated advertisements and then selling at prices three to four times higher than the purchase price, indicating speculative transactions.

The Yellow Sea Free Economic Zone Authority, which manages the Hyundeok District, requested an investigation into illegal activities by these planned real estate companies from the Pyeongtaek Police Station on the 13th of last month. It also requested Gyeonggi Province to designate the land transaction permission zone in the same month.

Recognizing the seriousness of the situation and to expedite the designation of the land transaction permission zone, the province designated the Hyundeok District as such through a written review by the provincial urban planning committee starting at the end of last month.

According to the Yellow Sea Free Economic Zone Authority, as of June, 13 corporations presumed to be planned real estate companies concentrated purchases of 15 parcels within the Hyundeok District, transferring shares to 200 individuals and earning an unfair profit of 3.6 billion KRW.

The province published the announcement of the land transaction permission zone designation in the Gyeonggi Province Gazette on the 10th.

Once designated as a land transaction permission zone, anyone who trades land above a certain area without approval or uses the land for purposes other than the permitted ones will face imprisonment of up to two years or a fine amounting to 30% of the land price based on the individual publicly announced land price at the time of contract.

A provincial official stated, "We plan to continuously monitor speculative transactions by planned real estate companies and designate additional land transaction permission zones as needed."

The Hyundeok District had its project implementer designation canceled on August 31, 2018, due to failure to meet the conditions of the implementation plan approval by the previous developer, and the project will be promoted through a public-private joint development method starting at the end of this year.