Lee Jae-myung: "A Practical and Unified Government Will Definitely Solve the Real Estate Issue" (Comprehensive)

"Practical Integrated Government, Deployed Immediately Without Need for Practice"

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is greeting and appealing for support at a campaign rally held at the entrance of Dobongsan in Dobong-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 6th. 2022.3.6 Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, emphasized on the 6th, "We will significantly reduce acquisition tax for first-time homebuyers," and stated, "We will definitely solve the real estate issue."

At an on-site campaign event set up at the entrance of Dobongsan in Dobong-gu, Seoul, Lee said, "The Democratic Party government has generally done well, but one thing it failed at was real estate policy," and added, "The pragmatic unified government led by Lee Jae-myung will definitely solve the real estate problem."

He said, "We will reform tax, finance, and transaction systems centered on actual demand," and explained, "We will create a completely new real estate policy by drastically reforming systems such as tax, finance, and transaction restrictions and permit systems focused on actual residents." Specifically, he mentioned allowing up to 90% loan-to-value (LTV) for people buying a house for the first time in their lifetime.

He continued, "We will drastically reduce financing for multi-homeowners and building investments, while significantly easing support for those buying their first home, providing financial support for one household one home and reducing taxes," and explained, "With proper adjustments, we can gain cooperation so that no one feels unfairly treated."

He also said, "When foreigners and corporations buy houses, they must get approval from the market or county governor. After introducing this permit system, transactions have drastically decreased by one-third to one-half," and added, "I will firmly introduce a land transaction permit system nationwide to prevent speculation."

He stated, "Some worry about my strong drive," and said, "I will firmly implement what the people want, reform financial and tax systems centered on actual demand, and strictly block speculative transactions to carry out a major policy overhaul focused on actual demand."

Regarding housing supply, Lee said, "I am a market-respecting marketist. There is no government that can beat the market, and it is difficult for a market to exist that goes against government policy," and added, "We will steadily and sufficiently supply good apartments in desirable locations with excellent parking spaces that demanders want."

He then reintroduced his previously announced pledges, including allocating 30% of apartments to youth, prioritizing the supply of 100,000 basic youth housing units in Yongsan Park, and easing regulations on reconstruction and redevelopment.

He also said, "To prevent corruption among redevelopment and reconstruction association heads, we will introduce a public management system," and explained, "Currently, there are only three types of residential zones, but we will create a fourth general residential zone allowing up to 500% floor area ratio, and the increased housing will be supplied as tenant housing, youth housing, or public housing, making everyone happy."

As a way to increase trust in real estate policy, Lee said, "Government policies are trusted when high-ranking officials cannot engage in double standards," and stated, "When appointing high-ranking officials, multi-homeowners will not be appointed or promoted. Real estate will also be put into blind trusts to firmly prevent speculation."

He added, "There is a development profit recovery system that recovers all unearned income from development profits currently in the legislative process, but the opposition party is pretending to support it while blocking it behind the scenes. I will definitely see it through," and said, "We will firmly implement price ceiling systems and disclose sales costs to ensure no excessive profits are made."

He continued, "If development profits are firmly recovered and sales costs disclosed, first-time buyers can purchase apartments at about 15 million to 25 million KRW per pyeong, no matter how expensive the market is. We will supply practically half-price apartments," and added, "We will create a real estate supervisory agency to check nationwide land ownership and transaction status in real time and conduct comprehensive investigations."

Lee said, "Having worked as an administrator, I realized that in crisis situations, quick situational judgment and swift execution are truly necessary," and emphasized, "The pragmatic unified government led by Lee Jae-myung will be a working government that can be deployed immediately without practice."

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