The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Korea Real Estate Analysts Association convened a policy seminar on September 18, 2026, at Seoul City Hall to expand the role and capacity of regional verification support centers for property official prices. Around 190 participants, including provincial officials, real estate experts, and citizens, attended the event, titled “Strengthening the Role and Capacity of Local Governments through the Real Estate Official Price Verification Support Center.”
Expanding Regional Oversight in Official Price Determinations
Official prices serve as the foundational data for numerous administrative systems, including property taxes, health insurance premiums, basic pensions, and land compensation. Currently, standard real estate and apartment valuations are centrally managed by the central government, which has sparked calls to strengthen the participation of local governments that possess granular, localized market knowledge.
Seoul has actively participated in this space since 2022, analyzing price parity and sharing its findings with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport alongside autonomous districts. Since 2023, the city has joined a joint pilot research project with the Ministry to establish a permanent verification system between central and regional authorities. Participation has scaled significantly, growing from just Seoul in 2023 to 13 regional metropolitan and provincial governments by 2026. Looking ahead, Seoul plans to participate alongside 12 other city-provinces in the Ministry’s upcoming “2027 Real Estate Official Price Verification Support Center Institutionalization Empirical Research” to test the operational effectiveness of these centers.
Institutional Frameworks and Expert Recommendations
The legislative groundwork for regional centers advanced in December when an amendment bill to the Act on Public Notice of Real Estate Values was proposed, establishing provisions for municipal verification support centers. The recent seminar used this legislative momentum to evaluate operational prerequisites and future directions.
National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Division Chief Jang Kyung-seok noted that building metropolitan-level support frameworks would reduce investigative burdens on front-line local offices and enhance localized price appropriateness.
Future Roadmap for Quality Control and Technology Integration
Seoul Land Management Division Director Ji Mi-jong stated that establishing the verification support center will unify land and housing price management efficiently, positioning the Seoul-style center as a centralized hub for price quality control. Gyeonggi Province Acting Land Information Division Director Sim Sang-hyun stressed the need for clear operational regulations and mechanisms to offset the practical administrative limits faced by basic municipal districts. Korea Real Estate Board Property Pricing Division Head Kwon Yong-hee characterized provincial verification support centers as collaborative bridges between central and local authorities, while noting the necessity of replacing manual property investigations with artificial intelligence and digital tools.
To ensure practical implementation, experts highlighted five core tasks: granting clear legal authority and roles, securing professional personnel, integrating and sharing data, linking land and housing valuations, and building preliminary verification support systems. Seoul City announced plans to refine the center's functions by using insights gathered from ongoing pilot programs, expanding nationwide municipal participation, and standardizing training programs for evaluation personnel.
“This policy seminar emphasized the necessity of metropolitan-level roles in official price surveying and calculation,” said Kim Chang-gyu, Head of Seoul’s Urban Space Bureau. “Seoul will continue to cooperate with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and autonomous districts to build a collaborative governance model that enhances the accuracy and reliability of official prices.”
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