Housing prices cooling after supply measures: minister

The nation’s fiscal chief said Wednesday that housing prices had cooled down since the government announced new supply measures earlier this month.

At a meeting with related ministers, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government would speed up its housing supply plan, unveiled earlier this month, by selecting potential locations for new apartments by June and by strengthening monitoring to prevent illegal housing transactions and tax evasion.

“To prevent confusion in the market, we will complete the selection of candidates for lots by the second quarter where some 250,000 housing units will be built,” Hong said.

Touting the supply plan as the biggest in 20 years, the government said Feb. 4 that it would add some 830,000 housing units by 2025 by lifting legal barriers to redevelopment and enabling apartment construction on land that is now publicly owned.

Including the numbers announced last year, the government plans to provide 2.05 million housing units over the next four years.

Steeply rising apartment prices and supply shortages in Seoul and nearby cities have become thorny issues that President Moon Jae-in is struggling to resolve, prompting him to offer a public apology and replace a land minister.

While former Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mee focused on tightening regulations and imposing heavier taxes on owners of multiple homes, current Minister Byeon Chang-heum is seeking to increase the supply of affordable homes through construction and redevelopment projects.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)