President Lee Vows to Speed Up Housing Reconstruction, Promises Supply Policy Soon

President Lee Jae-myung is prioritizing housing supply, announcing a push to accelerate reconstruction and redevelopment projects. Speaking at his first-anniversary press conference, Lee noted a significant drop in housing supply over the past three years, with construction starts and approvals falling by nearly half. He pledged to expedite these processes with new policies to be announced shortly.

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We need to speed up reconstruction and redevelopment to increase supply quickly.

Lee also commented on the recent decrease in jeonse (long-term rental deposit) housing and rising prices. He attributed the decline in jeonse availability to homeowners selling their properties after tax deferral periods ended. However, he downplayed the notion of a jeonse price surge, suggesting that increased demand from those seeking to buy homes rather than rent absorbed the supply.

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Supply from reconstruction and redevelopment has decreased significantly over the past three years.

While acknowledging that jeonse price statistics show a noticeable increase due to reduced availability, Lee characterized the overall situation as a "normalization process." He further noted that the jeonse system itself, unique to South Korea and akin to private financing, is gradually disappearing.

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We are currently finalizing policies to increase supply, and we will announce them soon with an emphasis on speed.