Apartment and villa complexes in Seoul as seen from the Seoul Sky observation deck at Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu. [Yonhap]
Apartment and villa complexes in Seoul as seen from the Seoul Sky observation deck at Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung chaired two real estate policy review meetings last week, ordering his staff to draw up swift and sweeping measures to expand housing supply.

The government plans to announce a housing supply package as early as this week, political sources said Sunday.

Lee holds a firm conviction that expanding supply is the top priority for stabilizing the real estate market.

His view is that only a rapid, large-scale injection of housing in areas preferred by genuine buyers can effectively calm the market and ease concerns about a supply shortage.

Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Friday, after the second real estate review meeting concluded, that Lee had instructed officials at the first meeting "to find ways to maximize the volume of supply and push forward the timing of that supply as much as possible." She added that at the second meeting, Lee received briefings from ministers and committee chairs on financial support measures to accelerate housing supply, as well as plans to encourage and support the early delivery of real estate projects, and that a wide range of views were exchanged.

The financial support framework for accelerating housing supply is widely expected to include a form of deregulation on real estate project financing, aimed at improving funding conditions for private developers and speeding up delivery.

Cheong Wa Dae said the six-hour second meeting featured broad discussion and close review of sweeping supply expansion measures and plans for their rapid implementation.

Specifically, the government is reviewing plans to supply more than 50,000 new homes centered on the Greater Seoul area. A proposal under active discussion would combine that figure with the 60,000 units announced under the Jan. 29 package — including sites such as Taereung Country Club and the Gwacheon racetrack — to achieve a total supply effect of around 110,000 homes.

Wrapping up the meeting, Lee urged Prime Minister Han Seong-sook and the relevant ministers to abandon conventional thinking, make transformative judgments and act boldly.


sang@heraldcorp.com