Proposal to Lift the Designation of Jamsil-dong as a Land Transaction Permission Zone

Songpa-gu Strongly Requests Seoul City for ‘Full Deregulation’ Ahead of June Expiration of Jamsil-dong Land Transaction Permission Zone Designation

To Protect Residents’ Property Rights…Multiple Requests to Seoul City for Deregulation of Jamsil-dong Land Transaction Permission Zone

This Year, Average Officially Appraised Price of Apartments in Jamsil-dong Dropped 30% Based on National Standard

Concerns Over Minimal Housing Price Stabilization Effect and Artificial Demand Distortion Such as Balloon Effect in Real Estate Market

Seogangseok, Mayor of Songpa District, briefing residents during a conversation

Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Gang-seok) announced that it submitted its opinion to Seoul City on the 10th, requesting the full deregulation of the land transaction permission zone in Jamsil-dong, which is set to expire on June 22, in order to protect the property rights and freedom of residence relocation of local residents.

The entire 5.2 million square meters of Jamsil-dong was first designated as a land transaction permission zone on June 23, 2020, and has been extended twice since. Ahead of Seoul City’s decision on whether to re-designate the zone this June, the district strongly represents the residents suffering from excessive regulations by repeatedly expressing its opinion for deregulation and responding firmly.

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, emphasized, “Songpa-gu was not included in the government’s deregulation target areas announced this January, but Jamsil-dong remains designated as a land transaction permission zone, causing serious infringement on residents’ property rights due to excessive overlapping regulations. Since land transaction permission zones should be limited measures aimed at stabilizing the real estate market, areas where the designated purpose has already been achieved should be immediately deregulated.”

The district explained that an analysis of transaction report processing through the real estate transaction management system and monitoring of real estate brokerage offices in major apartment complexes in Jamsil-dong showed a “stabilization of the downward trend,” indicating that the area no longer meets the criteria for designation as a permission zone.

According to the district, last year’s real estate transaction volume in Jamsil-dong decreased to about 34% compared to 2019 before the designation of the permission zone (2019: 2,705 cases, 2022: 911 cases), and transaction prices also declined. As of January this year, the apartment prices in Jamsil-dong (based on the national standard 84㎡) showed a sharp drop of -30.01% compared to the previous year, and the land price change rate also showed a downward trend at -0.049% as of January this year, compared to 0.392% last year.

In particular, Jamsil-dong was designated to suppress speculative demand as it is the site of the International Exchange Complex District (Jamsil MICE project), but since the profit from development expectations has already been realized, the practical benefit of the permission zone designation has disappeared.

The district also expressed concerns in its deregulation opinion about side effects causing artificial demand distortion in the real estate market. For example, it pointed out the sharp increase in transaction demand for Helio City apartments located in Garak-dong, Songpa, as a balloon effect caused by the designation of the permission zone in the Jamsil area.

Above all, the district stated that it can no longer overlook the significant infringement on the property rights and freedom of residence relocation of Jamsil-dong residents. It appealed for consideration of residents’ circumstances, such as difficulties faced by owners who must urgently dispose of property due to interest rate hikes and economic downturns but cannot do so, and residents who wish to live nearby for reasons including their children’s education and workplace proximity.

Jamsil-dong area

Furthermore, the district emphasized the difference from Gangnam Apgujeong and Yangcheon Mok-dong areas, where the permission zone extension was decided last April. While Gangnam Apgujeong and Yangcheon Mok-dong designated only reconstruction complexes with concerns of speculative overheating as land transaction permission zones, Jamsil’s entire area, including complexes where reconstruction has already been completed, is excessively regulated.

Based on this, the district expects that even if the Jamsil area is deregulated, it will be free from fairness issues related to preferential treatment since it has been subject to excessive regulations compared to other areas.

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, stated, “We plan to persistently advocate to Seoul City, the permitting authority, for the deregulation of the Jamsil-dong land transaction permission zone to ensure that residents’ property rights are not unjustly infringed.”

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