Gwangju City Inspects Real Estate Agencies with Many Non-Local Transactions... 81 Cases Detected

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City’s real estate market stabilization measures, implemented in response to the skyrocketing apartment prices caused by concentrated purchases by non-residents, have shown positive results.

According to Gwangju City on the 5th, following Mayor Lee Yong-seop’s directive last year to devise a ‘Real Estate Market Stabilization Plan,’ the city conducted ▲joint inspections of brokerage offices with high non-resident transactions ▲on-site inspections to identify trends in non-resident transactions ▲and detailed investigations of actual real estate transactions.

From November 11 to December 15 last year, together with autonomous districts, the city conducted focused crackdowns including document inspections on 154 brokerage offices in areas with many non-resident transactions such as Bongseon-dong and Suwan District, uncovering 81 violations and taking actions including ▲2 fines ▲36 suspensions of business operations ▲and 43 corrective guidance measures.

The types of violations included ▲12 cases of delayed reporting or discrepancies in actual transaction reports ▲10 cases of missing power of attorney ▲2 cases of failure to keep sales contracts ▲43 cases of omissions in the confirmation and explanation documents of brokerage objects ▲10 cases of inconsistencies between registered real estate business names and signboard notations and improper posting of securities ▲and 4 cases of missing seals.

Separately, a full investigation of actual real estate transaction data involving non-residents identified 521 cases suspected of tax evasion, including suspected down payment transactions on pre-sale rights and suspected illegal gifts, which were reported to the Gwangju Regional Tax Office.

Additionally, the Gwangju Branch of the Korea Association of Realtors expressed a strong commitment to blocking illegal speculation by non-residents by issuing a statement on December 16 last year titled ‘Stabilization of Gwangju Metropolitan City Apartment Market Prices,’ and pledged active cooperation in stabilizing the real estate market.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Housing Policy Deliberation Committee) announced on December 18 last year measures to curb real estate speculation, including newly designating all five autonomous districts of Gwangju City as regulated areas, which is expected to be effective.

This year, Gwangju City will continue joint detailed investigations with autonomous districts into suspicious real estate transactions and plans to conduct additional investigations into those who omitted other income from real estate transaction cancellation reports.

Lee Su-won, Director of the Land Information Division of the city, stated, “This year, we plan to continue intensive crackdowns on illegal real estate transactions in close cooperation with related agencies such as the National Police Agency and the National Tax Service,” adding, “We will strive to minimize citizen damage by blocking the influx of speculative forces.”

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