Unabated Real Transaction Report Violations... 27,000 Cases in 3 Years

Sejong City Housing Prices Soar with 313 Cases in the First Half of the Year

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Despite the real estate actual transaction price reporting system, violations such as reporting lower or higher transaction prices continue to persist.

According to the 'Real Estate Actual Transaction Price Reporting Violations and Fine Imposition Status' data submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Kim Gyo-heung, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the total number of real estate actual transaction price reporting violations over the past three years was 27,471 cases.

The number of reporting violations, which was 7,264 cases in 2017, increased annually to 9,596 cases in 2018 and 10,612 cases last year. The first half of this year also recorded 4,922 cases, maintaining a similar level to previous years.

The fines imposed for actual transaction price reporting violations over the three years amounted to 102.8 billion KRW. However, the annual fine amounts showed a slight decreasing trend: 38.5 billion KRW in 2017, 35.0 billion KRW in 2018, and 29.3 billion KRW in 2019.

Looking at the types of reporting violations over the three years, delayed or non-reporting accounted for the largest share at 74.1% (20,346 cases), followed by other reasons such as facilitation or aiding at 16.3% (4,480 cases), 'down contracts' where the reported price was lower than the actual transaction price at 6.3% (1,732 cases), and 'up contracts' where the price was reported higher at 3.3% (913 cases).

By region, the number of reporting violations in Sejong City, where discussions on relocating the capital have resumed, surged more than 12 times from 25 cases last year to 313 cases in the first half of this year. It appears that reporting violations have significantly increased amid the recent rapid rise in housing prices.

In February this year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport established the 'Real Estate Market Illegal Activity Response Team' and strengthened crackdowns on illegal activities across real estate transactions, including illegal sales of pre-sale rights, false residence registrations, and income data manipulation, along with existing monitoring of up and down contracts.

Assemblyman Kim emphasized, "Artificially manipulating market prices by evading real estate regulations and legal frameworks disrupts the market and harms sound transaction order," adding, "The government must cooperate with related agencies to strengthen monitoring and make every effort to eradicate illegal activities."

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