Actions against disruptions in the real estate market, including price collusion, illegal brokerage, and false reporting of transaction prices, have exceeded 1,000 in the past five and a half years. Cases of 'up-contracting,' where contract amounts are inflated to increase loan limits, have also been uncovered.
According to data submitted by Yoon Jong-gun, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, from 2021 to June of this year, a total of 1,005 actions related to real estate transaction disruptions were recorded. Of these, 477 were referrals for investigation, 337 were administrative actions, and 191 were notifications to tax offices.
The number of actions taken each year has varied, dropping from 53 in 2021 to just 2 in 2022, but rising again to 121 in 2023, 218 in 2024, and reaching 373 last year. In the first half of this year alone, there were 238 actions, accounting for about 64% of last year's total. This included 100 notifications to tax offices, 73 referrals for investigation, and 65 administrative actions.
Looking at the types of violations over the entire period, there were 124 referrals for investigation related to price collusion, 18 notifications to tax offices, and 3 administrative actions. For inadequate descriptions of brokerage targets, there were 112 administrative actions and 35 referrals for investigation and notifications to tax offices each. Violations related to the prohibition of lending real estate agent licenses accounted for 82 referrals for investigation, 43 administrative actions, and 9 notifications to tax offices.
Instances of inflated transaction prices on contracts have also been confirmed. During the sale of officetels, contracts were drawn up with inflated amounts to raise the loan limits for buyers, leading to false reporting of actual transaction prices and subsequent fines.
The Korea Real Estate Agency has been operating a 'focused reporting period for false transaction price reporting' from August 10 to September 18, targeting cases of up-contracting and similar violations. Suspected activities such as price collusion or false reporting can be reported to the real estate transaction disruption reporting center, which is managed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
Seo Jin-hyung, a professor at Kwangwoon University’s Department of Real Estate Law, stated, “Price collusion and up or down contracts are clear disruptive activities that require strengthened regulations. Given the covert nature of these disruptions, it is essential to establish a continuous monitoring system rather than relying solely on one-time crackdowns.” He added, “However, if supervisory functions are overly strengthened, it could deter normal transactions, so it is necessary to create post-management mechanisms to balance this.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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