▲ Choi In-ho, president of the Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (right), takes an oath as a witness alongside heads of real estate-related organizations during a parliamentary audit held by the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee at the National Assembly on the 15th.
While experts have suggested that adjustments are necessary for weekly apartment price statistics due to inherent limitations, the general public and licensed real estate agents reportedly want the statistics to continue being published.
Taking this divergence of opinions into account, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) plans to determine the direction of the weekly statistics overhaul after gathering additional feedback.
Kim Young-guk, head of the Housing and Land Office at MOLIT, made the remarks during a parliamentary audit of MOLIT-affiliated organizations, including the Korea Real Estate Board, held by the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee on the 15th, in response to a question from Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Yong-sun regarding the plans to revamp the weekly apartment price statistics.
"Experts largely share the view that weekly statistics need to be adjusted due to statistical limitations," Kim said. "However, surveys show that citizens and realtors want the statistics to be published."
He added, "We plan to gather additional feedback on the research findings from the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements. Once the feedback collection is complete, we will announce the (revised plan)."
The weekly apartment price trend is a state-approved statistic published every week by the Korea Real Estate Board, which investigates fluctuations in sales and jeonse (lump-sum housing lease) prices for apartments nationwide.
During last year's parliamentary audit, MOLIT stated that it was considering options such as maintaining the weekly apartment price trend surveys while suspending publication or adjusting the survey frequency to biweekly.
Although the ministry subsequently commissioned a related study from the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, a specific direction for the overhaul has not yet been finalized.
Addressing controversies over the accuracy of the weekly apartment price statistics during the audit, Korea Real Estate Board President Lee Hun-wook acknowledged the limitation that investigators' judgments inevitably play a role.
"Because weekly prices must be determined even when there are insufficient housing transactions during the week, investigators' professional capabilities inevitably come into play," Lee explained.
He added, however, "Looking at long-term trends, we believe the statistics are statistically significant when compared with the actual transaction price index."
Lee also stated that work is underway to improve statistical accuracy by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies.
"We are striving to strengthen external verification and continuously advance statistical techniques internally," he said, adding, "We are providing AI-based market prices to allow for comparisons."
Meanwhile, when asked about the outlook for the housing market in the Seoul metropolitan area, President Lee replied, "As the Korea Real Estate Board is an institution that compiles state-approved weekly and monthly statistics, it is inappropriate for us to publicly state forecasts."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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