March Nationwide Real Estate Sales Foreign Buyers Up 29.1% MoM
Chinese Account for 69% of Total
The previously sluggish foreign purchases of Korean real estate are increasing. The buying trend led by Chinese buyers, who once drove Korean real estate shopping, has returned, with two out of three people who bought Korean real estate this year being Chinese. Recently, as theories about the bottoming out of housing prices have emerged, it appears that low-priced purchases are being made mainly in the metropolitan area.
According to the Supreme Court Registry Information Plaza's ownership transfer registration (sales) application buyer status, the number of foreigners who purchased real estate (buildings, land, and collective buildings) nationwide in March was 1,170, a 29.1% increase from February (906). The number of foreigners purchasing Korean real estate exceeded 1,000 for the first time in three months since December last year (1,014).
Looking at the nationalities of foreign buyers, Chinese buyers accounted for 771 people, representing 65.9% of the total (1,170). This was followed by the United States (153 people, 13.08%), Canada (62 people, 5.30%), Vietnam (34 people, 2.91%), and Russia (22 people, 1.88%).
By region, their buying activity was concentrated in the metropolitan area. Last month, the number of foreigners who traded real estate in Seoul was 129, a 63.3% increase from February (79). The number of transactions by foreigners in Gyeonggi Province also rose to 436, up 21.4% from February (359).
Foreigners’ Korean real estate shopping sparked controversy over reverse discrimination during the Moon Jae-in administration. In particular, Chinese buyers emerged as major players in Korean real estate, with six out of ten people who bought domestic real estate last year being Chinese. According to the Registry Information Plaza, among foreigners owning domestic real estate last year, Chinese numbered 77,008, the highest. This was followed by the United States (68,707), Canada (17,760), Taiwan (7,147), Australia (4,817), and Japan (4,257). This was because they were relatively free from various financial regulations such as the Debt Service Ratio (DSR) limit and Loan-to-Value (LTV) restrictions that applied to domestic buyers.
As foreign investment in domestic real estate increased by exploiting these regulatory blind spots, the government conducted a special investigation into foreign housing speculation last year, detecting 567 suspected illegal activities and notifying relevant agencies.
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