Deputy Minister of Land: "If Housing Prices in Paju and Gimpo Become Unstable, They Will Be Designated as Adjustment Areas Next Month"

Park Sun-ho, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is delivering a greeting at the "Two Years of Achievements and Challenges of the Moon Jae-in Government's Housing Policy Seminar" held on the 28th at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Park Sun-ho, the First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, recently stated regarding areas such as Gimpo and Paju in Gyeonggi Province, where housing prices are rising due to the balloon effect, "If housing prices continue to be unstable, we can designate these areas as regulated zones as soon as next month once the conditions are met."

Vice Minister Park made this remark on the 28th during an appearance on KBS 1TV's 'Sunday Diagnosis Live' while discussing the contents of the June 17 measures, responding to the host's comment about the unstable housing prices in these areas.

He explained, "We are currently collecting data and investigating the market atmosphere in Gimpo and Paju," adding, "Since designating regulated areas affects property rights, it cannot be decided arbitrarily and must meet the requirements under the Housing Act."

The criteria for designating a regulated area under the Housing Act include cases where the housing price increase rate exceeds 1.3 times the inflation rate over three months, among others.

Vice Minister Park said, "When preparing the June 17 measures, Gimpo and Paju did not meet these criteria," and added, "If market conditions later meet the requirements, we can take immediate action."

When the host asked if it could be possible as early as next month, Vice Minister Park replied, "The possibility is open in July," and said, "It depends on the market situation in these areas."

Regarding the strengthening of regulations on jeonse loans, he said, "The purpose of jeonse loans is to help ordinary citizens prepare jeonse deposits," and added, "The regulation on jeonse loans is to prevent gap investments where people buy houses with deposits included."

He further explained, "If gap investments spread, housing prices will inevitably continue to rise, and in such cases, only genuine buyers will suffer."

On imposing a two-year residence obligation on reconstruction association members, Vice Minister Park said, "Reconstruction is originally a system to improve the living environment of the house one lives in," and added, "It is problematic for someone who has never lived in the house to buy it solely for investment purposes."

He explained, "Since this applies from the early reconstruction stage where associations have not yet been formed, it requires only two years of residence within a period of up to about 10 years."

Regarding claims that such regulations infringe on the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of residence and movement, he said, "If you look closely at the Constitution, the government must strive for the comfortable housing of the people and is allowed to restrict citizens' rights for public welfare," and added, "The Constitutional Court has also issued rulings fully recognizing this in cases related to real estate policies."

He also said about designating some areas in Gangnam as land transaction permission zones, "This too restricts property rights under the greater public interest such as public welfare and housing market stability."

Vice Minister Park responded to media reports that the current government has announced the 21st measure by saying, "That is not true," and added, "Measures purely for housing price stabilization have been announced only once a year."

Regarding future housing price prospects, he suggested, "It will move in a stable direction from both demand and supply perspectives."

When the host asked whether the goal of real estate policy is to keep housing prices at their current level or to return them to the levels before the current government, Vice Minister Park stated, "It is desirable for housing prices in areas where prices have risen sharply in a short period to fall significantly."

Previously, President Moon Jae-in also mentioned at the New Year's press conference, "In areas where housing prices have risen excessively compared to three years ago, restoration to original levels is necessary."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.