Suspicious Speculation Signs at 'Gimpo Gochon,' a Strong Candidate Site for 2nd New Town Development

Land Transaction Volume Surged 5 Times at Year-End
Equity Trading Also Rampant Like in Gwangmyeong-Siheung
"Investigation Should Expand to Candidate Sites"
Government to Announce 2nd New Housing Sites in April for Smooth Supply

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] It has been revealed that land transactions surged at the end of last year in areas considered strong candidates for the second new housing site in the Seoul metropolitan area, which the government plans to announce in April. In particular, many of the recent land transactions involved multiple people purchasing shares together, similar to the speculation by employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) in the Gwangmyeong-Siheung district, raising concerns about possible speculation using insider information.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price disclosure system on the 11th, there were a total of 127 land transactions in Gochon-eup, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi Province in December last year. Considering that the average monthly land transaction volume in this area was 24 cases from 2019 to 2020 excluding that month, the transaction volume surged fivefold. In this area, 39 and 45 transactions were made in January and February this year respectively, both higher than usual.

Gochon-eup, Gimpo-si, which borders Gangseo-gu, Seoul, has been mentioned as a strong candidate for new housing sites along with Hanam Gambuk and Goyang Wonheung and Hwajeon due to its excellent accessibility. Since a surge in land transactions is generally interpreted as a sign of speculation, there are concerns that information about related public development plans and investments in this area may have been leaked. Previously, land transactions also surged in the Gwangmyeong-Siheung district, where LH employees’ speculation was confirmed, ahead of the government’s policy announcement. According to the office of Kim Sang-hoon, a member of the People Power Party, 167 land transactions were made in Garim-dong, Siheung-si in the three months before the August 4th policy, and 30 transactions in the three months before the February 4th policy this year. Outside these periods, transactions were in single digits or nonexistent.

Another characteristic of land transactions in the Gochon area is the increase in share transactions where multiple people jointly purchase land. Of the 39 transactions in January, 14 were share transactions, and of the 45 in February, 20 were share transactions. This is also a sharp increase compared to the average monthly share transactions of 6 last year. A representative from real estate agency A in the area explained, "Since the end of last year, the number of people coming from outside has increased, and land prices that were less than 700,000 won per 3.3㎡ now exceed 1 million won," adding, "Some landowners have withdrawn their listings due to suspicious signs, so transactions have become difficult recently."

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