Housing Transaction Report System in Effect Next March

Beginning next March at the latest, if a buyer does not report the amount of the transaction within 15 days of buying or selling an apartment or a cooperative in some regions suspected of speculation, the buyer will be fined 10 percent of the price of the housing.

Also, only the individuals who register with an application account can apply for a community & shopping apartment complex of more than 20 homes, just as in normal apartment complexes, and monopolizing the installment sale rights is banned in regions of fierce speculation.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation announced on December 9 that it will address related procedures and implement the policies no later than March, after the Construction and Transportation Committee of the National Assembly passed the housing law reform bill in the committee meeting.

As the committee delayed reaching a conclusion on installment sale price regulation or a compulsory opening policy for original installment sale prices as suggested by the representatives, there was an increased possibility that the bill would be discarded.

According to the ministry, the districts where reports of the transaction amount were required were regions suspected of housing speculation and “districts of housing transaction report in which speculative transactions prevail or it is doubted so according to the minister’s judgment.” The housing in question included cooperatives such as apartments, tenements and multi-family housings, and owners were required to report the content of their contracts to their district’s head in the city, the county, or the district government within 15 days after the transaction on their home.

Anyone who does not comply will be fined an amount that reaches up to five times of the acquisition tax. The acquisition tax is around two percent of the sale price, thus the fine will be around 10 percent of the price.

The filer of the report should receive a certificate from the head of city, county or district, file it to a registry office, and then the filer can obtain real estate registry. Also, the contents of the report can be used for the assessment of acquisition tax, registration tax, and transfer income tax.

Jae-Seong Hwang jsonhng@donga.com