Apartment Sale Prices to Drop 10%

The government decided to lift regulations on farmlands and mountain lands in suburban areas to expand the ratio of the urban land to the entire territory from 6.2 percent to 9.2 percent by 2020. This widens the urban area by 1.5 folds nationwide. The expanded area is five times larger than Seoul.

The government also decided to cut the price of public housing land by 20 percent to lower the sale prices of apartments that are smaller than 86 square meters and sold in public housing land by 10 percent. Accordingly, it is expected that the sale prices of Songpa New Town, set to open in September 2009, will go down from the initial estimation of about 9 million won to about 8 million won per 3.3 square meters.

The government will also drastically reduce some 390 overlapping regulations in land usage.

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Marine Affairs reported the plan to President Lee Myung-bak at the Busan Port Authority in Jungang-dong, Busan, on March 24.

Under the draft plan, the ministry will expand the supply of houses in areas near subway stations in cities by raising the floor space index, and allow the construction of skyscrapers in which hotels and apartments coexist in special economic zones.

To help newly married couples to settle down, the government will provide 50,000 houses per year especially for those in low income brackets.

In order to help enterprises secure land for plants, the government will provide 33 million square meters of rental industry complexes, 10 times greater in scale than the initial plan, for 10 years ahead.

For the office workers who commute to and from suburban areas, the government will lower the fare for the shortest unit (basic fare) of Saemaeul Train from 7,500 won to 4,700 won. The lowest fare for Mugunghwa Train will also be lowered from 3,200 won to 2,500 won.

In addition, from July, the exclusive bus lane system will also be operated on weekdays in the 40-kilometer-long stretch between Osan, Gyeonggi Province and the Seocho Interchange on the Gyeongbu Expressway. The government will also advance the construction of the second Gyeongbu Expressway and the second West Coast Expressway that link Seoul with the Sejong Multifunctional Administrative City in order to curb traffic congestion and to improve the logistics system.

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