As house prices fall, over 1.5 billion won in housing loan ban regulation (comprehensive)

Government “It is one of the normalization tasks, but nothing has been discussed or decided”

View of downtown Seoul apartments from Mt. Inwang, Seoul [연합뉴스 자료사진]

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Yong-joo, Lee Ji-heon, and Kim Da-hye = As house prices start to fall in earnest, the ban on mortgages for apartments with market value of more than 1.5 billion won is on the cutting edge.

The purpose is to prevent the rapid cooling of the real estate market by easing loan regulations.

Although the government is one of the tasks to normalize the real estate market, it is in the position that there has been no consultation or decision between ministries.

According to the relevant ministries on the 4th, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Financial Services Commission, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will hold a real estate-related ministerial meeting at the end of this month to check the current real estate market situation and review corresponding countermeasures.

At this meeting, there are speculations that the market is considering lifting the ban on mortgage loans for apartments exceeding 1.5 billion won.

The new government recognizes that the regulation on loans exceeding 1.5 billion won is a regulation that excessively limits the convenience of end-users. This means that it is one of the tasks to normalize the real estate market.

A lawsuit to confirm the constitutionality of the loan exceeding 1.5 billion won is currently being filed with the Constitutional Court.

Recently, as the real estate market sentiment has cooled faster than expected, some are pointing out that these regulations should be relaxed in preparation for a hard landing in the market.

According to the Korea Real Estate Agency, as of August 26, apartment prices in Seoul fell 0.13% from a week ago, the biggest drop in three years and seven months.

However, the government has been cautious about easing loan regulations. This is because they are aware that the expansion of the loan limit may stimulate household debt and the real estate market again.

It was for this reason that the pledge to ease the mortgage loan ratio (LTV) was applied only to first-time home buyers.

The lifting of the ban on loans for apartments exceeding 1.5 billion won can be a politically sensitive subject in that it is a policy that brings benefits to the wealthy who own expensive apartments.

In this regard, the government is still cautious about easing restrictions on loans exceeding 1.5 billion won.

The government reported on the same day that some media outlets were pushing for a plan to abolish the regulation on loans exceeding 1.5 billion won, saying, “The government is promoting the orderly normalization of the real estate system, taking into account market conditions and housing supply and demand conditions, but (loans exceeding 1.5 billion won). “There has been no discussion or decision between the relevant ministries regarding policy tasks and policy announcement schedules,” the official explained.

A government official explained, “The direction is correct, but it is not an easy task for the time being.”

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