Governor speaks at National Assembly audit Monday

'Designation does not push down prices that have already risen'

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae answers lawmakers' questions at the National Assembly's Land and Transportation Committee national audit of Gyeonggi Province, held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government building in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Monday. [Yonhap]
Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae answers lawmakers' questions at the National Assembly's Land and Transportation Committee national audit of Gyeonggi Province, held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government building in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Monday. [Yonhap]

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae said Monday that, for land transaction permit zones designated to curb speculation — rather than for long-term projects such as new town development — she has been urging the central government to lift the designations swiftly, depending on policy effectiveness.

Choo made the remarks at the National Assembly's Land and Transportation Committee national audit of Gyeonggi Province, responding to questions from People Power Party lawmakers Kim Eun-hye and Jeong Hee-yong. "The land transaction permit zone designation is effective at suppressing speculative demand, but I do not think it is effective at pushing down prices that have already risen," she said.

She added that while she could not go into specifics, "Gyeonggi Province has been making both formal and informal requests to the government," and that officials are "continuously tracking conditions, monitoring trends and reporting on them."

Currently, 15 areas within Gyeonggi Province require land transaction permits before real estate sales can proceed.

Twelve of those areas — including Gwacheon, Gwangmyeong, Uiwang and Hanam; Seongnam's Bundang, Sujeong and Jungwon districts; Suwon's Yeongtong, Jangan and Paldal districts; Anyang's Dongan district; and Yongin's Suji district — are designated through the end of this year. Three additional areas designated from July 5 — Yongin's Giheung district, Hwaseong's Dongtan district and Guri — are designated through the end of next year.

An analysis of the Korea Real Estate Board's weekly apartment sale price index found that among the 12 Gyeonggi areas designated as land transaction permit zones under the government's Oct. 15 real estate measures last year, apartment prices rose at a faster pace in the year following designation than in the year before it in 11 of the 12 areas.

Hwaseong's Dongtan district, where expectations tied to the semiconductor boom have been particularly strong, recorded a sale price index change rate of 20.14 percent as of the second week of October, reflecting a sharp rise in home prices.


hope@heraldcorp.com