[Reporter’s Notebook] The Approaching Era of Real Estate Big Brother

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] "Eradication"

This is a strong expression used by the government on the 25th when it announced plans to strengthen real transaction investigations and monitoring related to the real estate market twice in one day. It fully reflects the government's determination to root out disruptive acts such as false contract reporting to inflate actual transaction prices. The government also announced a policy to impose fines more actively on acts of posting false or exaggerated advertisements online.

Since the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration, housing prices have skyrocketed and the housing stability of ordinary citizens has become unstable, leading the government to continuously intensify investigations and surveillance of the real estate market. In addition to the announced measures, the government is already conducting large-scale planned investigations targeting major regions nationwide to check for tax evasion, illegal loans, and more. Regulations are also being strengthened across almost all areas including funding procurement, rental businesses, and transaction reporting.

It is no exaggeration to say that a significant portion of the real estate market has shifted from the private sector to the government's control within just one to two years. This is why every time the government pushes for the establishment of new monitoring organizations like the Real Estate Transaction Analysis Institute and introduces various regulatory strengthening measures, concerns mixed with criticism about a "Real Estate Big Brother" arise.

There is some justification for the government to strengthen surveillance and investigations of the public. As the real estate market overheated, speculative activities spread nationwide, and violations such as illegal loans, self-dealing transactions, and tax evasion were uncovered.

However, Big Brother always establishes itself gradually with plausible justification and persuasive appearances, rationalizing regulations little by little. Government surveillance and regulation become normalized, and in the process, excessive restrictions shrink private property rights and individual freedoms. Although the intent of monitoring is good, complaints are flooding in online from people worried about funding investigations despite legitimate transactions or being fined due to the government's retroactive regulations.

So far, under the overarching goal of "housing price stabilization," such minority voices are largely ignored. While expanding organizations and confirming sensitive personal information through legal amendments could easily reduce speculation, side effects such as infringement on property rights, privacy, and market contraction are inevitable. It is time for the ruling party and government to carefully consider policies that limit surveillance and investigations to only necessary areas and prevent innocent victims from emerging in the process.