Housing prices up 58 percent during Moon presidency: CCEJ

Seoul's apartment prices surged 58 percent during the presidency of Moon Jae-in, which is 4.5 times the increase rate of the combined period of the preceding Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye governments, a civic group said Wednesday.

The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ), a leading progressive civic group, made the assertion in a news conference in Seoul, challenging the incumbent administration's earlier announcement that Seoul's apartment prices rose by merely 14 percent under Moon.

The CCEJ said the average apartment price in the capital soared from 26.25 million won ($23,640) per 3.3 square meters (36 square feet) to 41.56 million won during the three years under Moon, marking an increase of 15.31 million won, or 58 percent.

Since its inauguration in May 2017, the Moon government has implemented a string of antispeculation measures, including steep hikes in real estate taxes, to rein in house prices in Seoul and other major cities, but surging apartment prices have been a major source of public discontent that has dragged down Moon's approval ratings.

Yonhap