Kaohsiung City Government Actively Conducts Checks to Curb Speculation in Response to Recent Rise in Housing Prices
In order to curb over-speculation in real estate and to ensure the stable development of Kaohsiung's real estate market, the Land Administration Bureau of the Kaohsiung City Government has been actively conducting spot checks on completed real estate developments and pre-sold houses that have been registered on the "Real Estate Actual Purchase Price Registration System." From July 1, 2021 to the end of March, 2022, a total of 1,056 cases were randomly checked and any instances of late reporting or attempts to disrupt the market order with false price reporting were identified and penalties imposed.
Furthermore, in order to implement the pre-sold real estate inspection mechanism and promote the safety of real estate transactions in accordance with the launch of the Real Estate Actual Purchase Price Registration System 2.0 on July 1, 2021, the city government has adopted a joint inspection method. In addition to the on-site inspection by the Kaohsiung City Land Administration Bureau, the inspections are divided into internal joint inspection by the city government and joint inspection by central government agencies such as the Department of Consumer Protection of the Executive Yuan and the Ministry of the Interior. Any suspected violations are thoroughly investigated and violators are punished or referred to the competent authorities for follow-up investigation.
After the new system of pre-sold housing came into effect until the end of March 2022, there were 106 cases of pre-sold housing sales information and standard real estate contracts reported and the Kaohsiung City Government has audited 32 cases and imposed 9 penalties. Chen Kuan-Fu, Director-General of the Land Administration Bureau of the Kaohsiung City Government reminded the industry that in order to safeguard the rights of consumers, the sale of pre-sold housing in real estate hotspots or those suspected of improper speculation and improper sales practices will be subject to enhanced inspections. In addition, the results of the joint inspection will be posted on the Real Estate Transaction Zone of the official website for the public's reference, so that industry operators should not leave anything to chance when dealing with pre-sold housing developments and should comply with the law to avoid penalties.
Chen also called on the public not to sign contracts in a hurry when purchasing pre-sold properties, but to collect information about the real estate projects on the Real Estate Actual Purchase Price Registration System website of the Ministry of the Interior and to review the pre-sale contracts in advance to protect their own rights.