The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs has released a detailed report on housing ownership by household. Before computerization when the all assessments of the situation were based on tax documents, and this was the first time individual ownership and Resident Registration data were compared electronically. It turns out that 17.77 million people, or 45.4 percent of the population, do not own homes. Meanwhile 890,000 people own multiple homes, a total of 2.37 million home all together. 3 percent of the country owns 52.9 percent of private land. You knew about the over-concentration, but you really feel how serious it is after seeing the results of the study.
Even if you accuse the government of releasing the figures to change the mood at a time when it has just announced a new real estate policy, the figures have a lot to say. Most noteworthy is the fact that almost half of the country doesn't own a home. The government, the National Assembly, and the country's opinion leaders all need to think of how frustrated people must feel as they watch prices skyrocket. When 890,000 households own 2.37 million homes, there's no other way to explain it than to say it's speculative investment. 165,000 households own more than two homes, and 14,823 own more than eleven. You can tell where the epicenter of skyrocketing housing prices is when you see that most of those people are in the greater capital region.
It becomes even clearer just what priority policy regarding housing prices needs to be given. Those who own multiple homes have in their possession 1.48 million surplus domiciles. It would be more effective than any housing supply effort if those people were to sell the homes they don't need. You see it even more if you limit "homes" to apartments. 450,000 people own two or more apartments, a total of 1.03 million homes. Even if they were all to live in apartments there would still be 580,000 left empty. Enough homes to fill 20 Pan'gyo "New Towns" would become available. The figure shows you how important and urgent it is that measures be enacted that prevent speculative real estate investment and make people put their surplus homes on the market. All of this is exactly why the "comprehensive real estate tax" must be followed through on without any turning back.
The top 1 percent of the country owns 51.5 percent of all private land. That's serious, if not as much so as the over-concentration of housing ownership. Stable land prices will remain a distant goal as long as 3 percent of the country owns half the land that is so scarce in Korea. It is as frustrating as can be that the "comprehensive measures on real estate" looks like it is getting gradually watered down by the politicians, who need to look at whether they are representing the voters who elected them. The people, for their part, need to keep careful watch on the politicians they elected to see what it is they're doing.
The Hankyoreh, 30 August 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Over-Concentration of Housing Ownership |
