[2026 National Assembly Audit] Lee Heonwook: "Weekly home price statistics leave room for surveyors' judgment... due to lack of actual transactions"

Weekly Home Price Statistics Inevitably Involve Surveyors' Judgment
Korea Real Estate Board President: "Statistically Significant"
Land Ministry to Decide on Revisions After Gathering Feedback

Lee Heonwook, president of the Korea Real Estate Board, acknowledged the limits to the accuracy of weekly apartment price statistics, saying that "there is room for surveyors' judgment to come into play." Because there are not enough housing transactions each week, the statistics have to rely on surveyors' professional judgment. However, he said they are within a reasonable range compared with the actual transaction price index and are statistically significant.

At the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee audit on October 15, Lee said, "Even though there are not enough housing transactions each week, we still have to determine weekly prices," adding, "This inevitably means that surveyors' professional expertise can play a role."

Lee Heonuk, president of the Korea Real Estate Board, delivers an agency report during an audit by the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee on the 15th. Yonhap News Agency

He added that the statistics are meaningful when viewed over the long term. "I believe they fall within a reasonable range compared with the actual transaction price index," Lee said. "We consider them statistically significant."

He also said the Board is working to improve the reliability of the statistics. "Along with strengthening external verification, we are working internally to advance our statistical methods," Lee said, adding, "We provide AI-based market price estimates so they can be compared."

The weekly apartment price trends are real estate statistics published by the Korea Real Estate Board each week, based on its surveys of changes in apartment sale and jeonse prices nationwide. In areas where no actual transactions have taken place, prices are calculated based on asking prices or comparable complexes. While this makes the statistics timely, concerns have been raised that it can reduce their accuracy. In April last year, the issue of reliability came under scrutiny when inspection findings containing allegations of statistical manipulation under the Moon Jae-in administration were announced.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to decide how to revise the weekly statistics after gathering further feedback. It had commissioned a related research project from the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, but the findings showed that experts and the general public were divided over the need for weekly statistics.

Kim Youngguk, director general of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Housing and Land Office, who attended the audit that day, said, "Many experts believe the weekly statistics should be adjusted because of their statistical limitations," adding, "The survey found that members of the public and licensed real estate agents want the statistics to continue to be published."

"We plan to gather further feedback on the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements' findings," he added. "Once we have done so, we will announce the revision plan."

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