Chungnam Requests 'Adjustment Area Removal' for Cheonan, Gongju, and Nonsan

Quantitative Designation Criteria for the Removal of Regulated Areas (above) and the Status of Meeting the Criteria in Cheonan, Gongju, and Nonsan (below). Provided by Chungnam Province

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province has requested the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to lift the designation of Cheonan, Gongju, and Nonsan as regulated areas.

According to the province on the 20th, the three areas including Cheonan were designated as regulated areas on December 18, 2020, and have not been exempted from regulations since then. They were excluded from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's review for lifting the designation in June.

On the other hand, the province recently officially requested the lifting of the regulated area designation through an official letter, judging that these areas currently meet the Ministry's criteria for lifting the designation.

The request was largely based on the stagnation of housing prices in Cheonan and other areas. For example, from May to July, housing prices in Cheonan fell by 0.27%, Gongju by 0.13%, and Nonsan only increased by 0.32%. These figures are below the consumer price inflation rate of 1.6% during the same period.

Additionally, the volume of pre-sale rights transactions over the past three months decreased by 67% in Cheonan and 100% in Nonsan compared to May to July of last year, while Gongju reportedly had no pre-sale transactions at all.

In particular, the average apartment subscription competition rate supplied in Cheonan, Gongju, and Nonsan from June to July did not exceed 5 to 1, and the housing supply rate in the province was 111.5%, exceeding the national average of 103.6%, indicating that all quantitative requirements for lifting the regulated area designation have been met, according to the province.

Conversely, negative effects have continued in Chungnam since the designation as regulated areas. Representative problems include accelerated local extinction due to population outflow and regional economic stagnation caused by housing market contraction.

For instance, as of the end of July, Cheonan's registered population decreased by 1,070 compared to January 2021, Gongju by 1,504, and Nonsan by 3,202 during the same period.

Cheonan's population, which had increased every year since population statistics began in 1992, was confirmed to have decreased for the first time at the end of last year, adding weight to the need to lift the regulated area designation.

Furthermore, the province argues that the Chungnam region's pre-sale and sales markets are poor, and due to interest rate hikes and economic recession, the possibility of a surge in sales prices is slim. Also, with a large supply volume in the province, housing price increases are limited, making the lifting of the regulated area designation essential.

A provincial official emphasized, "Cheonan is a city that can gauge the direction of Chungnam's economic development, and the population decline in Cheonan is interpreted as a sign of slowing economic growth and decline in Chungnam. Moreover, currently, apartments in Cheonan, Gongju, and Nonsan show a sharp decline in transaction volume and falling sales prices, indicating a stable housing market. Therefore, even if the regulated area designation is lifted, it is judged that there is no possibility of overheating in the housing market."

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