2025 Candidate Lee Jae-myung's Presidential Election Promises in-depth Analysis - Real Estate Policy

Release of Candidate Lee Jae-myung's 2025 Presidential Election Promises

The Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung announced a pledge book titled 'Now the Real Republic of Korea' focused on three key themes: 'Recovery, Growth, Happiness' in preparation for the 21st presidential election scheduled for June 3, 2025. This pledge book includes 15 policy tasks for the recovery of democracy, economic development, and the happiness of the people, along with 247 specific detailed pledges. Additionally, it presents five major visions: becoming an economic powerhouse, strengthening diplomacy and security, establishing a cultural powerhouse, reinforcing democracy, and building a welfare powerhouse, thereby clarifying the direction for the future.

Real estate policy pledges: Strengthening housing stability and market transparency

The real estate policy of candidate Lee Jae-myung aims to 'restore the housing ladder for the homeless and young people', with the establishment of a market order centered around actual demand being key. He has accepted criticism of the real estate policy of the Moon Jae-in administration and emphasized that he will avoid excessive tax policies while making every effort to expand housing supply and support actual demanders. Through this, he plans to stabilize housing prices and achieve housing welfare simultaneously. Various measures are also being prepared to enhance the transparency of transactions to eradicate illegal and unfair practices in the real estate market.

Promise for Expanding Housing Supply

In terms of housing supply, candidate Lee Jae-myung promises large-scale housing supply through new land development in the metropolitan area and the revitalization of redevelopment and reconstruction. He stated that he will move away from regulation-centered policies and ease the entry barriers for redevelopment and reconstruction. Additionally, he explained that there are plans to supply housing for young people and newlyweds through the development of the fourth-generation smart new towns. Regarding public rental housing, he stated that he will continuously promote high-quality basic housing that can include the middle class. Through this, he intends to achieve housing stability not only for vulnerable groups but also for young people.

Real Estate Taxation and Measures to Stabilize the Rental Market

Candidate Lee Jae-myung stated that he would "not touch the tax system as much as possible" regarding real estate taxation. In other words, he intends to maintain the stability of the current tax system. He emphasized that he would avoid drastic changes such as the comprehensive real estate tax and focus on stabilizing house prices through the activation of supply and transactions rather than suppressing speculative demand. Additionally, he is preparing measures to strengthen tenant protection, including promoting a law to prevent rental fraud. These measures include specific actions such as enhancing the return guarantee for rental deposits and expelling licensed real estate agents involved in rental fraud. These plans will also serve as a countermeasure for the rapidly transitioning rental market from jeonse to monthly rent.

Measures to Enhance Transparency in Real Estate Transactions

One of the pledges to enhance the transparency of real estate transactions includes the mandatory disclosure of opaque management fees. This plan aims to release the management fee details of commercial buildings to suppress rent increases. Additionally, it claims to monitor speculation by high-ranking officials through a reporting system for real estate transaction details and includes measures to crack down on real estate price manipulation and enhance penalties for speculative real estate practices. It also proposes to maintain the excess profits recovery system for reconstruction while slightly relaxing safety inspection standards to improve project viability. These various measures aim to achieve not only the stabilization of housing prices but also to enhance transportation welfare.

Prospects for Feasibility

The housing supply expansion pledge of candidate Lee Jae-myung is likely to be substantially realizable if there is government will. It seems that new city development, land compensation, and infrastructure construction will take time, and it is expected to be primarily initiated during the term. The easing of regulations on redevelopment and reconstruction could also be partially relaxed through an enforcement decree without legislative amendments, which could be positively received by the market. However, the situation in the private market, interest rates, and the financial conditions of construction companies may affect the pace of project implementation, and excessive relaxation of regulations could rather stimulate housing prices, necessitating a balanced policy approach. The expansion of rental housing must be supported by fiscal capacity, and in this regard, cooperation between the government and the National Assembly is essential.

Differences from Other Candidates

Real estate policy has traditionally been an area with significant differences in perspective between progressives and conservatives. In this early presidential election, both sides are focusing on 'expanding supply,' but their approaches differ. Candidate Lee Jae-myung emphasizes public rentals and protecting actual demand, whereas Kim Moon-soo from the People Power Party centers on tax relief and private-led supply. While Kim Moon-soo campaigns for the relaxation of the comprehensive real estate tax and the abolition of the excess profit recovery system from reconstruction, Lee Jae-myung states that he will not suppress demand through taxes and is committed to maintaining the current tax system, including the comprehensive real estate tax. Lee's approach, aimed at building a safety net for tenants and the non-homeowners, shows a distinct difference compared to other candidates.