"Hard to Buy a Home": Over 3,600 Complaints Flood In

[Anchor]

Ahead of the public debate on real estate policy scheduled for the day after tomorrow (July 23), a wide range of suggestions are pouring into the government's public opinion collection website. In particular, prospective homebuyers are voicing their frustrations, saying that tighter lending barriers have made it even more difficult to purchase their own homes.

Reporter Lee Seong-hoon has the story.

[Reporter]

A 30-something office worker surnamed Lim is preparing to buy a home for the first time as a non-homeowner.

Lim has already paid a 30 million won deposit and received approval for a land transaction permit to purchase an apartment in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, valued at 790 million won. However, Lim is now deeply concerned about securing a mortgage.

Amid the government's push to strengthen household debt management, some banks have restricted new loans or reduced loan limits this month, leaving Lim worried about potential setbacks in paying the remaining balance.

[Lim / Prospective first-time homebuyer: In this situation, it feels very unstable and scary to continue with this (contract). As a genuine homebuyer and someone trying to buy a house for the first time, it is very frustrating.]

Lim posted these frustrations directly on the government's real estate policy feedback website.

Lim is not alone in facing such concerns.

Over 3,600 opinions have been submitted to the website in just one week, with financial-related feedback accounting for the largest share at approximately 1,500 cases.

The majority of these comments demand deregulation, such as "expand financial support for first-time homebuyers" and "apply differentiated loan regulations between the capital region and other provinces."

[Kwon Dae-jung / Distinguished Professor, Department of Real Estate and Economics, Hansung University: For those who do not own a home, loan regulations should be sufficiently eased to allow them to purchase their own houses. Another aspect is relocation demand. For genuine homebuyers, loan regulations should be relaxed...]

In addition, there are ongoing demands regarding taxes and housing supply, such as "grant tax exemptions for non-resident single-home owners" or "ease redevelopment regulations."

Based on the opinions collected online, the government plans to hold a public real estate debate the day after tomorrow, which will be attended by President Lee Jae-myung.

(Video reporting: Seol Chi-hwan, Video editing: Park Na-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.