The city of Seoul conducted a focused inspection of unusual transactions occurring in areas targeted for the expansion of the land transaction permission zone (land permission zone) on the 24th, finding 17 cases of unusual transactions in areas including the Gangnam 3 Districts (Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa) and Yongsan District.
According to the city on the 23rd, the city has been conducting concentrated inspections of the designated areas for the land permission zone in collaboration with autonomous district joint inspection teams since the 21st. With signs of a transaction overheating spreading, the inspection was initiated to assess the likelihood of a short-term concentration of transactions occurring before the effectiveness of the land permission zone expansion.
The city will take strict actions against real estate market disruption behaviors, such as detecting collusion on transaction prices, reporting false transaction contracts for price elevation purposes, and false representations or advertisements of properties, by immediately notifying relevant agencies including the Financial Services Commission, the National Tax Service, and the Korean National Police Agency. For minor violations, administrative guidance will be provided on site.
The city discovered 17 cases of unusual transactions after inspecting 136 brokerage offices that facilitated transaction contracts. A detailed investigation will be conducted regarding the compliance of transaction report contents and actual transaction records for the parties involved.
For brokerage offices unable to be investigated on site due to reasons such as closed doors during inspections, there are plans to revisit or request the submission of clarification materials later to thoroughly investigate unusual transactions.
The city will also carry out continuous monitoring of transaction trends in areas where there are concerns about speculative demand influx. As a decrease in the volume of properties for sale is expected due to the expansion of the land permission zone designation, early detection of abnormal market flows will be pursued, with additional responses reviewed as necessary.
The city plans to continue joint guidance and inspections for stabilizing the real estate market even after the 24th.
Jo Nam-jun, head of the Urban Space Headquarters of Seoul, noted, "Given the situation where market disruption behaviors such as unusual transactions are sufficiently concerning ahead of the enforcement of the system's full effect, we will do our best to protect actual users as a priority while establishing a transparent market transaction order."