Gov't unveils tougher measures to curb property prices

The Moon Administration has unveiled a series of new measures to curb housing prices over the past year.
But with housing prices still soaring in the nation's capital and other cities, the government announced tougher regulations to help stabilize them.
Kim Hyesung reports.
The South Korean government on Monday unveiled a new set of curbs including lending restrictions, aimed at cooling overheated home prices.
Those include a ban on mortgage lending on properties valued at over 1-point-2-8 million U.S. dollars, effective as of Tuesday.
For houses valued at more than 770-thousand and under 1-point-28 million dollars, the loan to value ratio will be cut to 20 percent for the amount exceeding 770-thousand dollars, down from the previous 40 percent.
"Second, we will strengthen the burden of ownership for those with multiple houses or more than one high-priced property. We will strictly limit the tax benefits for property transfer and, in principle, ban expected profits on unearned revenue."
The finance minister said areas like Gangnam District in Seoul have seen housing prices continue to soar amid low interest rates since July.
On top of tougher lending, the comprehensive real estate tax will go up by a range of between point-1 percentage points to point-8 percentage points.
For those with multiple homes, the government will give them a six-month grace period until next June... to sell their homes without having to pay transfer tax.
It will also strengthen investigations to stop the illegal purchase of homes by thoroughly checking the source of funding.
Areas with price ceilings on new apartments will be expanded in Seoul and nearby areas.
Lastly, the government will increase housing supply in areas with high demand to help stabilize housing prices in the long term.
The government added that it will closely monitor the housing market and may take additional steps to curb housing prices in the first half of 2020.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.

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