President Lee stresses resolve to move beyond property speculation

President Lee Jae-myung said on the 5th that his government would definitely honor its promise to move the country away from real estate speculation.

President Lee outlined plans to provide large amounts of long-term public rental housing for young and middle-class people at an early stage. He said surplus tax revenue would fund the housing supply.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, President Lee described moving away from a real estate-dominated economy as a national task for South Korea. He wrote that the country could not be allowed to face 30 lost years after repeatedly passing on the risks of a real estate bubble.

President Lee identified a sharp decline in housing approvals, centered on Seoul, from 2022 through 2025, followed by a substantial drop in housing supply after a time lag, as the biggest cause of short-term housing-price instability. He suggested that concentration in the capital region, excessive lending that encourages housing speculation and an unfair tax system were among the medium- to long-term causes.

President Lee said housing approvals and construction starts had recently increased substantially, while new housing-site development and the conversion of existing sites and buildings to residential use were gaining pace, so supply would soon increase. He said balanced regional development policies, including relocating administrative agencies and public corporations to other regions, would ease concentration in the capital region, and that adjustments to household lending and tax reform would also take place.