Presidential Office: "Real Estate Prices Rising Sharply... Measures Focused on Supply to Be Announced Before the 15th"

"Domestic Stock Market Plunge Temporary, Will Recover"

Park Chun-seop, Chief Economic Secretary of the Presidential Office, is giving a briefing on economic issues at the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul, on the 2nd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Presidential Office stated on the 2nd that regarding the recent rise in Seoul real estate prices, "Measures related to this will be announced at a timely point before August 15," and added, "The government will review everything it can do, focusing on supply measures."

A senior official from the Presidential Office met with reporters at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon and said, "Seoul housing prices are rising mainly in the Gangnam 3 districts and 'Mayongseong' (Mapo, Yongsan, Seongdong), and the recent rate of increase is steep, so we see the need for government measures."

The official said, "Currently, the measures are being discussed among related ministries," and "However, the extent of the announcement will be decided through inter-ministerial consultations." It was explained that tax issues such as local taxes and acquisition taxes, as well as other taxes under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, require discussions, so it will take some time.

Regarding whether the current measures will include loan regulations and other financial measures, the official responded, "We are mainly reviewing the supply side, but we are also looking at loan regulations and financial aspects," and added, "It has not been decided whether financial measures will be included this time."

Regarding the domestic stock market falling more than 3% intraday due to the sharp decline in the U.S. stock market, the official diagnosed, "Yesterday, economic and employment indicators in the U.S. did not come out well, and it seems to have been affected by the significant drop in stock prices in after-hours trading."

The official said, "Not only in our country but also in Japan, the market fell more than 4%, and this is seen as a temporary phenomenon," and added, "I think it will recover after some time."

When asked about the timing of domestic interest rate cuts in relation to the U.S. interest rate cut speculation, the official said, "Expectations that interest rates will fall in our country are already reflected in the market," but drew a line by saying, "However, the decision on interest rates is the exclusive authority of the Monetary Policy Committee, so the government cannot comment on it."

He continued, "Our Monetary Policy Committee meeting is on August 22, and the committee members are expected to conduct a comprehensive evaluation while observing real estate market trends, mortgage loans, and household debt," and added, "According to market predictions, there is an expectation that it might be a bit early in August, and that the Monetary Policy Committee might not act until October."

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