[2020 National Audit] Korea Appraisal Board "Will Discuss Separate Statistics for Landmark Apartments"

Kim Hak-gyu, President of the Korea Real Estate Board, is taking the oath as a witness at the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit held on the 19th in Yeouido, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The debate over the reliability of real estate statistics from the Korea Appraisal Board, a nationally approved statistical agency, continued at the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit. Kim Hak-gyu, President of the Korea Appraisal Board, responded to these criticisms by stating, "We will try to coordinate with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on statistics for landmark complexes."

At the audit held on the 19th at the National Assembly for the Korea Appraisal Board and others, Song Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party, pointed out, "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister is responsible for real estate policies that receive public criticism, and the Appraisal Board also has the responsibility to accurately calculate related statistics." He criticized, "I found out that house prices in 25 districts of Seoul have doubled in the past three years," adding, "The government is calling it 'dead statistics.'"

Song said, "Among villas, row houses, and detached houses, some prices have stagnated, but what the public is sensitive about is the house prices in popular areas," and added, "For the parts the public is curious about, statistics that reflect reality should be presented to government authorities so that public sentiment can be properly reflected." He also said, "The Statistics Korea has released a living cost index in response to criticisms that the consumer price index does not reflect reality well," urging, "Please provide statistics that resonate more with the public and are more helpful for policy."

In response, Kim Hak-gyu, President of the Appraisal Board, replied, "We will try to coordinate with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on statistics for landmark complexes."

Kim Hak-gyu, President of the Korea Real Estate Board (second from the left), is responding to questions at the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 19th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the other hand, ruling party lawmakers defended the Korea Appraisal Board's index, saying the gap with private indices represented by KB Kookmin Bank is rapidly narrowing. Hong Ki-won, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, presented the trends of the Seoul apartment sale price indices from the Korea Appraisal Board and KB Kookmin Bank, arguing that the two institutions' indices show similar trends and the gap is narrowing.

Hong said, "Indices should be viewed by trend rather than numerical comparison, but looking at the Seoul apartment sale price indices from 2012 to this year, the gap between the Korea Appraisal Board and KB Kookmin Bank indices narrowed from 12.7 in 2012 to 8.5 last year," adding, "This year it is 7, and in August it further narrowed to 2.5." He continued, "There are claims that the Korea Appraisal Board's statistics differ from public perception," and asked, "Is there any plan to discuss ways to reduce the gap with KB Kookmin Bank?" Kim Hak-gyu responded, "If it is deemed appropriate in consultation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, we will consider it," revealing plans for improvement.

Hong also actively defended the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's use of statistics. He asked Kim Heung-jin, Director General of the Housing and Land Office at the Ministry, whether the government only values the Korea Appraisal Board's statistics and does not consider private statistics. Kim replied, "When announcing externally, we mainly cite the Korea Appraisal Board's statistics, which are the government's officially approved statistics, so it may appear that way," adding, "In reality, we look at various statistics including private sector statistics and the Korea Appraisal Board's actual transaction indices."

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