Lee Heonwook of Korea Real Estate Board: "Aware of Issues with Weekly Price Trend Statistics... Not a Matter for Unilateral Decision"

100 Days in Office: Press Briefing Held

"Livable City" Data Research Task Force Formed

Leveraging Existing Data to Address Real Estate Issues

Weekly Statistics Reform Not a Unilateral Decision"

Heonwook Lee, CEO of Korea Real Estate Board, addressed the weekly apartment price trend statistics, stating, "I understand that there have been many internal and external concerns raised about the significance of these statistics." However, he drew a line, explaining that as an investigative agency, the Korea Real Estate Board cannot unilaterally adjust the method or timing of the statistical releases.

At the 100-day inauguration press conference held on the 18th, Lee commented on the weekly apartment price trend statistics, saying, "To my knowledge, there are almost no cases globally where weekly statistics are released as official national statistics." He admitted, "It is true that there have been discussions about revising the release frequency to biweekly or monthly."

Heonwook Lee, CEO of Korea Real Estate Board, is speaking at the 100-day inauguration press conference on the 18th. Provided by Korea Real Estate Board

However, Lee clarified that revising the weekly statistics is not a decision that can be made solely by the Korea Real Estate Board. "The Korea Real Estate Board functions as an investigative agency and is not in a position to make such decisions independently. It is a matter that requires a multi-faceted review," he said. "However, if there is a policy change such as switching to a monthly cycle for national official statistics, we would need to comply accordingly," he added.

The weekly apartment price trend is a real estate statistic released by the Korea Real Estate Board every week, reporting changes in nationwide apartment sales and jeonse (lump-sum lease) prices on a weekly basis. Based on a sample of 33,500 households nationwide, professional price surveyors assess actual transaction prices and asking prices to determine reasonable price levels. However, in regions where there are no actual transactions, prices are calculated using asking prices or comparable apartment complex cases, which increases the timeliness but has been criticized for somewhat reduced accuracy. Additionally, during periods of rising real estate prices, there have been criticisms that releasing weekly statistics actually fuels further increases in home prices.

Responding to claims that the use of asking prices reduces the accuracy of the statistics, Lee said, "These statistics are calculated by professional surveyors who comprehensively evaluate various factors according to established survey methodologies. Therefore, the claim that the statistics are mainly based on asking prices is not true." He emphasized, "We conduct thorough internal expert verification and utilize internationally recognized statistical techniques, so we are confident in the accuracy of our statistics."

Regarding suspicions that the Korea Real Estate Board was involved in distorting real estate statistics during the Moon Jae-in administration, he responded, "As an audited agency, we are actively cooperating with the Board of Audit and Inspection, but this should be viewed as a controversy over statistical revisions, not manipulation." He explained, "The Korea Real Estate Board handled the matter within an appropriate work scope and has implemented all seven reform measures. We have also established both internal and external (statistical) inspection systems."

He also expressed his intention to focus on using the data held by the Korea Real Estate Board to address real estate issues during his term. In this regard, the Board has started work on using data to build 'livable cities' to address regional imbalances. An internal task force has been established to study relevant urban data, and the Board plans to release statistics to the public in the second half of this year. Lee said, "As long as urban imbalances exist between the Seoul metropolitan area and the provinces, real estate issues cannot be resolved. We will work to accurately visualize, through data, which Korean cities are innovative and livable, and how cities at risk of extinction are represented."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.