It has been revealed that among cases referred to investigative authorities for fraudulent housing applications, the rate of completed contract cancellations in the Seoul and Gyeonggi regions stood at just 27.4 percent. This is 21.8 percentage points lower than the average for other regions (49.2 percent).
According to an analysis of data received from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on October 1 by Rep. Heo Young of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, there were 665 cases nationwide referred to authorities from 2021 through June 2025 for acts that disrupted the housing supply order, such as fraudulent housing applications. Of these, 273 cases (41.1%) had been fully resolved with contract cancellations, 294 cases (44.2%) were still in progress, and 98 cases (14.7%) were difficult to cancel.
In Seoul, contract cancellations were completed in 23 out of 84 referred cases, and in Gyeonggi Province, in 45 out of 164 cases, resulting in a completion rate of 27.4% for both regions. Combined, Seoul and Gyeonggi Province saw 68 out of 248 referred cases resolved.
Cases where contract cancellations had not yet been finalized were also concentrated in Seoul and Gyeonggi. With 111 cases in Gyeonggi and 58 in Seoul, these two regions accounted for 57.5% of the 294 cases nationwide that were still in progress. The ratio of ongoing cases to total referrals in Seoul and Gyeonggi was 68.1%, approximately 2.3 times that of other regions (30.0%). Following these regions, ongoing cases were reported in South Chungcheong (37 cases), Busan (20 cases), Daejeon (19 cases), Incheon (16 cases), and Sejong (14 cases). In Sejong, only 4 out of 22 referred cases (18.2%) resulted in contract cancellations, marking the lowest completion rate nationwide. In contrast, North Jeolla (85.7%), South Jeolla (85.0%), Gangwon (80.0%), North Chungcheong (70.0%), Gwangju (66.7%), and Busan (64.1%) had high completion rates.
Of the 98 cases where cancellation was difficult, 55 involved cases where ownership of the housing had already been transferred to a bona fide third party, and 43 were cases where the prosecution had decided there were no grounds for charges. South Chungcheong Province had the highest number of cases where cancellation was difficult, with 26 cases.
Fictitious residency registration accounted for the overwhelming majority of detected cases. Of the 1,669 cases detected during the same period, 1,380 (82.7%) involved fictitious residency registration. The number of cases detected by year was 365 in 2021, 269 in 2022, 285 in 2023, 499 in 2024, and 251 in the first half of 2025.
Of these, 832 cases—roughly half—involved special allocation programs. By category, these included 290 cases for first-time homebuyers, 244 for newlyweds, 152 for those supporting elderly parents, 77 for families with multiple children, and 69 for institutional recommendations. The number of detected cases involving the “caring for elderly parents” special allocation program surged from 6 in 2023 to 70 in 2024; all 70 of these cases involved fictitious address registrations. In the first half of this year, 63 such cases were also detected.
Representative Heo Young stated, “‘For citizens waiting to buy their own homes after overcoming competition of dozens to one, the fairness of the housing lottery is of the utmost importance,’” adding, “If the cancellation of fraudulent housing lottery contracts is not finalized in Seoul and Gyeonggi—where housing prices are high and competition for housing is fierce—the sense of deprivation among genuine homebuyers who participated fairly in the lottery will inevitably grow.” He continued, “Detecting fraudulent housing lotteries should not be the end of the process,” emphasizing, “We must thoroughly examine the reasons behind cases where contract cancellations have been pending for a long time and review the management system to ensure that follow-up measures—such as contract cancellations and the recovery of homes—proceed smoothly after detection.”
