Foreign Real Estate Permit System, Bipartisan Legislative Outlook.. Increase in Participation by Ruling Party Members

[Financial News] The bill to change foreign real estate transactions from the current reporting system to a permit system is likely to be processed by bipartisan agreement. This is because the number of Democratic Party members participating in the bill has increased. Despite being a bill proposed by the People Power Party to criticize the Lee Jae-myung government's real estate loan regulations, the recognition of its necessity is growing within the Democratic Party.
According to the political circle on the 16th, as the Democratic Party also formed a consensus on the conversion to a foreign real estate permit system advocated by the People Power Party, there is speculation that the ruling and opposition parties may engage in joint legislation in the future.
The criterion for gauging the consensus within the Democratic Party is the number of co-sponsors of the amendment to the Real Estate Transaction Reporting Act, which focuses on the foreign real estate transaction permit system proposed by Democratic Party member Lee Eon-ju. The number of lawmakers willing to become co-sponsors increased from 13 to 17 since the initial proposal on the 11th, leading to a re-proposal on the 14th.
The Democratic Party has not yet organized its stance on the bill at the leadership level. Officially, it is considered an individual bill proposed by Lee, but it has been acknowledged that lawmakers have recently been paying attention to it. 
The People Power Party, led by Kim Eun-hye, the Deputy Chief of Policy, and lawmaker Joo Jin-woo, has proposed several bills for the foreign real estate transaction permit system. Discussions are also underway at the party's real estate market stabilization task force (TF). Given that the Democratic Party has proposed a bill with the same intent, the People Power Party's floor leadership plans to propose pursuing it as joint legislation with the Democratic Party. The idea is to include the bill in the agenda to be processed together after handling the currently ongoing joint legislation.
A key official from the People Power Party said in a call with Financial News, "We have proposed many bills for the foreign real estate permit system, and the Democratic Party has also proposed a bill with the same content," adding, "We plan to suggest discussing it quickly together after processing the ongoing joint legislation." He particularly noted, "(Foreign real estate speculation) is a part with significant public backlash, so it seems we can discuss it well between the parties."
The first joint legislation is scheduled to be processed altogether during the August extraordinary session of the National Assembly after the personnel hearing situation is concluded. Therefore, additional joint legislation, including the foreign real estate permit system, is expected to be pursued when the regular session of the National Assembly opens in September.
Meanwhile, the main content of the amendment to the Real Estate Transaction Reporting Act proposed by the ruling and opposition parties includes not only requiring prior approval for foreign real estate transactions but also reflecting the principle of reciprocity and a mandatory residence period of three years after purchasing a house. The residence obligation is a regulation to prevent indiscriminate real estate speculation by foreigners along with the transaction permit system, and the reciprocity application targets China. More than half of the foreigners purchasing domestic real estate are Chinese, but our citizens face significant restrictions on purchasing real estate in China.



gowell@fnnews.com Kim Hyung-gu Kim Yun-ho Reporter