"Let the government stop promising to bring home prices down." Kim Soo-hyun, the former presidential policy chief who designed the Moon Jae-in administration's real estate policy, wrote this in his 2023 book "Real Estate and Politics." The government's job, he argued, is to build an equitable tax system and manage land supply and urban planning incentives so that quality homes are delivered on time — not to wage a psychological battle with the market while fretting over expensive apartment prices in Seoul's Gangnam district.
Since the Lee Jae-myung administration took office, lending and transaction rules have been tightened repeatedly, yet home prices have kept climbing. Apartment prices in Seoul have risen for 83 consecutive weeks. The cumulative increase over that period exceeds the rate of gains recorded under the Moon administration. It is a fresh reminder that regulation alone cannot stabilize the market. The government has pledged again and again to accelerate supply, but the gap between announcing candidate sites and breaking ground remains. When land requiring facility relocations and consultations with related agencies is counted toward supply targets, and differences with local governments go unresolved, all that is left for the market is uncertainty.
The most painful part is that the housing supply the government stressed has long been perceived in the market as an empty echo. The prolonged vacancy at the top of Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) is a stark example. LH went about eight months without a president after Lee Han-joon stepped down last October. The government pressed for faster public housing supply while leaving the post responsible for delivering it unfilled.
The lineup that will steer the second phase of the Lee administration's housing and real estate policy is now taking shape. Hong Ji-sun, the nominee for minister of land, infrastructure and transport, said at her confirmation hearing on Sept. 16 that she would "supply enough homes quickly where demand exists." She also said she would draw on her experience in local government to resolve on-the-ground bottlenecks such as permit delays. In July, Lee Sung-hoon, then the presidential secretary for land, infrastructure and transport, took office as LH president.
What matters is execution. The new land minister should spend less time sparring with the Seoul mayor over supply sites and instead push forward the projects on which agreement is possible. With LH, the ministry should review compensation, groundbreaking and move-in schedules district by district and jointly unlock sites stalled by funding or permits. A housing supply record is judged not by the number of units announced but by the number of homes actually started and occupied. When the minister and the LH president eventually leave their posts, one hopes they will not receive a failing grade.
