Last year, the number of real estate properties purchased by foreigners in South Korea exceeded 15,000, marking the highest proportion ever recorded.
View of apartment complexes in Seoul from Namhansanseong, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi Province / Photo by Yonhap News
According to the 'Status of Buyers Applying for Ownership Transfer Registration by Sale' from the Court Registry Information Plaza on the 10th, a total of 15,614 foreigners purchased real estate and applied for ownership transfer registration last year, accounting for 0.90% of all buyers.
When related statistics first became available in 2010, the number of foreigners purchasing real estate was 4,307, representing only 0.20% of all buyers. However, this steadily increased to 0.33% in 2014, 0.44% in 2016, 0.64% in 2018, and 0.75% in 2022, reaching the highest proportion ever last year.
By nationality, Chinese buyers overwhelmingly led with 11,384 people (72.9%). They were followed by the United States with 7,892, Canada with 1,627, Taiwan with 521, and Australia with 510.
In particular, foreigners who purchased collective buildings?mostly residential facilities such as apartments, officetels, multi-family houses, and shopping complexes?numbered 12,027, accounting for about 1.21% of all buyers. The proportion of foreigners purchasing collective buildings increased from 0.50% in 2015 to 0.89% in 2018, and surpassed 1% for the first time in 2022.
The region with the highest proportion of foreign purchases of collective buildings last year was Incheon (2.09%), followed by Chungnam (1.74%), Gyeonggi (1.68%), Jeju (1.53%), and Chungbuk (1.21%).
As foreign real estate purchases increased, the number of foreigners earning income through leasing also grew. According to the 'Status of Lessors with Confirmed Dates' from the Court Registry Information Plaza, there were 17,786 lease contracts with confirmed dates last year where the landlord was a foreigner, the highest since 2010.
Lease contracts with foreign lessors first exceeded 10,000 in 2019 (10,114 contracts), increasing to 12,256 in 2021 and 17,488 in 2022. By region, these contracts were concentrated in Seoul (4,612 contracts) and Gyeonggi (3,814 contracts), with Incheon (499 contracts), Chungnam (301 contracts), Busan (296 contracts), and Jeju (155 contracts) also noted.
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