Moon Jin-seok, the Democratic Party of Korea's senior deputy floor leader for operations, stressed regarding the recent strengthening of the government's real estate regulations that "this package was not about kicking away the ladder, but an extreme measure to protect end users and stabilize housing prices." He also signaled that a "tweezer-like" real estate supply plan that end users can feel will come out in the future.
Moon, at a daily briefing on the National Assembly's audit of government on the morning of the 17th, was asked about the real estate measures and said, "Wasn't there no tightening of loans for amounts under 1.5 billion?" He added, "One could say there is resistance and aversion to tying all of Seoul and parts of the capital area into land transaction permit zones, but I cannot agree with the frame that this is kicking away the ladder."
Regarding criticism that lowering the LTV (loan-to-value ratio) in regulated areas from 70% to 40% in this package is a "policy that turns its back on end users," he said, "I do not think every ordinary person must take on debt to buy a house." He countered, "There are clearly people who want to take on debt to buy a house, but that does not mean every ordinary person."
He also said, "I am not sure if cutting 200 million won in loans for someone trying to buy a 2.5 billion won apartment is fatal."
As for the view that the government's real estate package could backfire in next year's local elections, he said, "That could happen temporarily. When an area is tied as a land transaction permit zone, the real estate market itself freezes. When the economy becomes difficult, it is not a good signal for various stakeholders." He continued, "But in the long run, there is a price-stabilizing effect," adding, "There is a policy judgment that the benefits for end users are greatest when housing prices are stabilized."
On future housing supply measures, he said, "Past real estate supply had aspects that failed to instill confidence in the market," and predicted, "Because supply measures that secure trust and are tangible will come out, the past administration's failures will not be repeated."
On timing, he said, "It may take time because we need to craft supply measures with care," adding, "Rather than saying we will develop a new town as in the past, I think it will proceed in a tweezer-like way, such as specifying how much will be supplied to our region."