MOLIT Detects 346 Suspected Illegal Real Estate Transactions Near New Housing Supply Sites

Company A purchased 19 parcels of land and detached houses in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, near a government-designated new housing site, for a total of 22.25 billion won. The transactions were flagged as multiple purchases by a single buyer, prompting a detailed investigation by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) planning investigation team.

The investigation revealed discrepancies between the initial contract payment dates and the reported contract dates in 10 out of the 19 transactions. Additionally, six transactions were found to have falsely reported actual brokered deals as direct transactions, and these cases will be forwarded to the National Tax Service and local governments.

Meanwhile, Company B purchased four parcels of land in Jungwon-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, for 11.55 billion won. It was confirmed that the buyer covered 400 million won in moving-out (eviction) compensation on behalf of eight existing tenants in one of the transactions, which led to a false transaction price report. This case will also be reported to the National Tax Service and local governments.

This decision was made because the eviction compensation constituted an actual transaction price but was omitted from the reported amount.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced today (the 30th) that its inspection of abnormal real estate transactions near new housing supply areas in the capital region uncovered a total of 346 suspected illegal transactions. This planned investigation targeted real estate transactions conducted over the past five years (January 2021 to February 2026) in new housing supply areas in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province announced early this year as part of efforts to expand urban housing supply.

The primary targets of the investigation included transactions with a high potential to disrupt market order, such as purchases under corporate names, purchases by out-of-towners, short-term repeated trading, purchases of multiple parcels, and fractional share transactions of roads or forest lands.

The investigation team examined a total of 1,072 cases, uncovered 457 suspected illegal acts across 346 suspicious transactions, and plans to notify relevant agencies such as the National Tax Service and competent local governments.

By category, false reports regarding prices and contract dates were the most common at 249 cases (local governments), followed by 178 cases of excessive borrowing from related parties (National Tax Service), 16 cases of unauthorized use of loan funds for other purposes (Financial Services Commission and Ministry of the Interior and Safety), and 14 cases of violations of the Certified Realtors Act (MOLIT Special Judicial Police).

One corporate buyer purchased a detached house located in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, for 2.7 billion won. The company borrowed 800 million won short-term from its chief executive officer to pay the balance, and then secured an 800 million won working capital loan to repay the CEO's loan. This was confirmed as an unauthorized diversion of loan funds for other purposes, and the case will be forwarded to the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service.

Authorities noted that the company diverted a working capital loan—which can only be used for routine business activities such as employee wages or raw material purchases—as funds for purchasing real estate.

Once proven illegal, the uncovered cases will face penalties and measures including fines of up to 10 percent of the acquisition value, retroactive collection of unpaid taxes, loan recovery, and imprisonment of up to one year or fines of up to 10 million won.
In addition, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Real Estate Board are monitoring market trends, such as transaction prices and out-of-town buyers, in existing regulated areas including all of Seoul and 12 districts in Gyeonggi Province, newly designated regulated areas such as Guri, Giheung District in Yongsin, and Dongtan in Hwaseong, as well as nearby areas vulnerable to spillover effects.

The ministry has also launched an investigation into transaction trends in the planned site for the Honam Semiconductor Advanced National Industrial Complex, which was newly designated as a land transaction permit zone, and plans to monitor abnormal transactions in the Gyeonggi-Daegu-Gyeongbuk region (materials, parts, and equipment innovation hubs) and the Chungcheong region (packaging hubs).

Shin Yoon-geun, Director General for Land Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "We plan to continue actively pursuing planned investigations into abnormal transactions that disrupt market order, and where suspected illegal transactions are confirmed, we will take strict measures in cooperation with relevant agencies."

(Photo provided by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.