President Lee: “Preparing contingency measures, including bulk purchases for public rental housing if home prices plunge”

[Financial News] President Lee said on the 3rd, “We are already preparing contingency measures, including bulk government purchases for use as public rental housing, in the event of a sharp decline in home prices.”
That day, Lee shared on X (formerly Twitter) an article titled “Can the Lee Jae Myung government really withstand a sharp drop in Seoul home prices?” and wrote, “For the people and the country, the myth of invincible real estate has reached the time to be shattered—and it must be shattered.”
Responding to concerns that falling home prices could trigger instability in financial markets, he said, “Since this government took office, we have curbed the growth of household loans and managed mortgage lending, so financial-market instability resulting from fluctuations in home prices will be limited.” He added that contingency measures were being prepared, including bulk purchases for public rental housing if home prices fell sharply.
He identified the decline in housing permits and approvals as a cause of the recent rise in Seoul home prices. President Lee said, “The recent rise in home prices in Seoul is due to a considerable extent to the sharp drop in housing permits and approvals by local governments that began in 2022,” and predicted that “as permits and approvals return to normal under this government, the supply cliff will begin to ease around 2028.” He added, “Our government will continue ‘supply, no matter what.’”
President Lee stressed, “To forecast home prices, people should carefully examine objective data, including changes in transaction volumes and listings, transaction price trends in leading areas, housing supply trends, the direction of interest rates and the economy, overseas real estate trends, mortgage delinquency rates, and changes in the number of properties put up for auction and their winning bid rates.”
In particular, he urged, “Those who feel pressured to panic-buy in the Seoul metropolitan area should be sure to watch changes in transaction volumes for apartments in Seoul, trends in listings, actual transaction prices in key areas, mortgage delinquency rates, and trends in the number of auctions.”
President Lee said, “Some argue that the government will not be able to withstand falling home prices, but escaping the country-ruining republic of real estate speculation is more important than the fate of the administration.”
[email protected] Choi Jong-geun Reporter