Rich People Attracted by "Commercial Space for Sale"

Preferred Investment for Asset Owners... New Type of Fraud Alert
'Daewoo Construction Prugio Complex Commercial Area Public Bidding'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] A new type of fraud targeting commercial properties, the top investment choice for wealthy investors, has emerged, prompting caution.

According to industry sources on the 15th, false information was recently reported by some media outlets claiming that Daewoo E&C would hold a public auction for commercial properties within the Prugio Parsena complex in Unjeong New Town in March. This incident occurred when a private company pretended to be the developer and requested media promotion from a sales agency. The company even boldly placed sales advertisements on portal sites. Daewoo E&C plans to investigate the background of the false reports and take measures such as requesting an investigation.

A Daewoo E&C official stated, "There have been repeated reports that a public auction for commercial properties within the Prugio Parsena complex in Unjeong New Town will be held in March," adding, "However, no decisions have been made regarding the sale of these commercial properties." The official also expressed concern that "there could be damages to commercial property buyers, such as deposit fraud."

This type of fraud is interpreted as a phenomenon arising from the recent increase in investment demand for commercial properties among wealthy investors. According to the ‘2022 KB Real Estate Report’ by KB Financial Research Institute, under the current government's stringent real estate regulations, investors have shifted their focus from the housing market to commercial real estate, making commercial properties the number one preferred real estate investment among wealthy investors. This is the first time commercial properties have surpassed reconstruction and general apartments in preference since the survey was conducted. In fact, last year, the nationwide commercial real estate transaction volume reached a record high of 215,816 cases, which is 40.5% higher than the 153,637 cases recorded in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.