As Claims of 'Bucheon and Suwon Added to Regulated Areas' Spread, Government Says 'Not True, Investigation Requested'

[Financial News] After claims spread that a 'supplementary real estate package' would designate Bucheon and Suwon in Gyeonggi Province and other areas as regulated zones and further reduce mortgage loan limits, the government said the claims were untrue and requested an investigation.
According to the Ministry of Land on the 6th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Financial Services Commission (FSC) issued a press reference document on the 6th, stating that the real estate policy-related content circulating online was untrue and urging the public to be cautious about related reports. The government also plans to request an additional investigation into the dissemination of this material. It made clear that it would respond strongly if similar cases arise in the future.
The material that spread this time circulated mainly on social media under the title 'Draft Announcement of Additional Measures to Stabilize the Housing Market.' It said that Bucheon in Gyeonggi Province, Gwonseon-gu in Suwon, and Manan-gu in Anyang would be designated as land transaction permit zones and regulated areas, with the measures taking effect in mid-November. It also claimed that mortgage loan limits would be lowered across all housing price brackets and that the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for first-time homebuyers in regulated areas would be cut from 70% to 40%.
This is not the first time such a document has circulated ahead of an announcement of measures. In February, around the January 29 housing supply package, material spread claiming, among other things, that the realization rate of officially assessed property values would be raised to 95%, the special long-term holding deduction for single-home owners would be abolished, and a property holding tax would be imposed on apartments not occupied by their owners. The Ministry of Land requested a police investigation on February 2. In June, posts circulated that included claims of reduced jeonse loan limits and an increase in the realization rate of officially assessed property values to 90%. On October 20, after a post appeared claiming that mortgage loan limits would be further reduced according to housing prices, Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eog-weon directly rebutted it on X, saying, "The claim that mortgage loan limits would be further reduced based on housing prices is entirely untrue."


[email protected] Jeong Gyeong-su Reporter