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| ▲ This photo, taken April 10. 2022, shows apartment buildings in Seoul. (Yonhap) |
finance minister-housing prices
Housing prices show signs of destabilizing in Seoul: finance minister
SEOUL, April 13 (Yonhap) -- Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday the government will make efforts to stabilize the real estate market as housing prices in Seoul recently showed signs of rising in anticipation of eased rules over reconstruction under the incoming government.
Hong said home prices in some areas of Seoul swung to an upturn, bucking the overall downward trend of housing prices, as expectations for real estate-related deregulation have increased.
"It is very important to make the housing market maintain its stabilizing movement," the minister said at a government meeting on the housing policy.
The government focused on clamping down on property speculations and curbing runaway home prices by raising tax rates and tightening lending rules. But the measures led to only a short-term letup in housing prices since demand for home buying has not been easily subdued in anticipation of further price gains.
In recent months, South Korea's housing prices have shown stabilizing movements on the back of increased home supply plans and rising interest rates. But home prices in some areas in Seoul rose in expectation of the incoming government's housing policy.
A 183-square-meter apartment in Apgujeong of the posh southern Seoul district of Gangnam was sold at 5.95 billion won (US$4.8 million) on March 17, just days after the presidential election, compared with its previous record high of 5.2 billion won in December 2020, according to data from the land ministry.
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol vowed to relax regulations on the property sector, including the easing of capital gain taxes and a tax on property ownership.
Land Minister nominee Won Hee-ryong hinted that the incoming government will seek to ease regulations on reconstruction and redevelopment in a measured way in a bid to curb speculative property demand.
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