"Alliance Strike Spreads in Opposition to Brokerage Fee Reduction... Public Opinion Is 'Well...'"

Gyeongnam, Ulsan, Busan, etc. push for alliance strike
Conflict rises ahead of Ministry of Land's legislative notice deadline
However, 'half of half-price' brokerage also emerges in industry
Some brokers say "Industry cleanup must come first"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Licensed real estate agents are strongly opposing the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's reduction of the upper limit on brokerage fees, even going as far as to stage a 'sympathy strike.' The Korea Association of Realtors has formed a Survival Rights Protection Struggle Committee and plans to intensify its fight against the government.

However, it is expected to be difficult to bring about policy changes from the government as general consumers, exhausted by excessively high housing prices and brokerage fee burdens, show little sympathy.

According to the real estate industry on the 12th, some licensed real estate agents in certain regions have been conducting a sympathy strike since the 8th in opposition to the Ministry of Land's legislative notice on the amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act. Realtors in the Gyeongnam region also carried out voluntary strikes on the 10th, demanding a halt to the unilateral reduction of brokerage fees. It is reported that about 2,000 offices, roughly 30% of the total 6,700 participating real estate offices, joined the strike.

Licensed real estate agents in various parts of the country, including Busan, Gwangju, and Ulsan, are also reported to be conducting or planning to conduct some sympathy strikes. Earlier, on the 8th, the Realtors Association held an inauguration ceremony for the 'Real Estate Policy Failure Condemnation and Survival Rights Protection Struggle Committee' in front of the Ministry of Land, declaring that they would pursue actions such as returning real estate agent licenses, indefinite sympathy strikes, and movements to oust the current administration.

The brokerage industry argues that the government should not blame licensed real estate agents for the skyrocketing real estate prices caused by its flawed policies. They explain that the logic of lowering brokerage fees just because fees linked to soaring housing prices have increased, despite a significant drop in real estate transactions, is an 'administrative outrage.'

While they are willing to accept some reduction in brokerage fees for high-priced homes over 900 million won in Seoul, reflecting the increased housing cost burden on ordinary citizens, they cannot accept the overall downward adjustment of existing rates without sufficient dialogue with the stakeholders in the brokerage industry. Over 700 opinions have been posted so far on the Ministry of Land's legislative notice on the amendment to the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act, which was uploaded on the 2nd.

However, there is also analysis that the brokerage agents' claims are losing strength as 'half of half-price' brokerage fees are increasing recently within the industry. The brokerage platform 'DarwinJunggae,' which promotes "0 won brokerage fee when listing a house, half-price brokerage fee when buying a house," has decided on its own rates that are up to half the price of the government's reform plan and plans to implement them soon. The brokerage corporation 'Udaebbang' will also apply 'half of half-price' brokerage fees to its customers starting from the 15th. It is known that many brokers within the industry are accepting the rate reduction and not participating in the sympathy strike.

Since the existing brokerage fee burden was too high, many consumers also support pushing forward with the brokerage fee reduction as is. Currently, the upper limit of brokerage fees that tenants must bear when buying a 900 million won house reaches 8.1 million won. A tenant who left a comment on the legislative notice said, "Brokerage fees are too high compared to the monthly salary of an average worker," and added, "From a consumer's perspective, I strongly support it."

A realtor in Songpa-gu, Seoul, said, "The general public is not very interested, so just shouting opposition to the brokerage fee reduction is useless," and added, "Real estate agents themselves must boldly eliminate illegal and irregular practices and make efforts to purify the industry so that they can be treated as professional qualified personnel."

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