The Top Foreign Buyers of Homes in Korea Are Chinese... See Which Areas They Bought the Most In

Foreign Buyers of Korean Real Estate Increase by 12% in One Year

Last year, the number of foreigners who purchased real estate in South Korea increased by 12% compared to the previous year, surpassing 17,000, with 65% of foreign buyers being Chinese. Chinese buyers mainly purchased real estate in Bucheon, Hwaseong, and Ansan in Gyeonggi Province.

According to the 'Status of Buyers Applying for Ownership Transfer Registration by Sale' from the Court Registry Information Plaza on the 8th, a total of 17,478 foreigners applied for ownership transfer registration after purchasing real estate (including collective buildings, land, and buildings) in South Korea in 2024, reported Yonhap News and others on the same day. This figure represents an 11.9% increase from 15,061 in 2023.

Yonhap News

The number of foreign buyers increased to 19,371 in 2020 during the real estate market boom but decreased for two consecutive years to 18,798 in 2021 and 14,095 in 2022, before rising again from 2023. The proportion of foreigners among all real estate buyers also reached 1.1% last year, marking the highest level in five years since 2019 (1.6%).

By nationality, Chinese buyers were the largest group with 11,346 people, accounting for 64.9% of the total. However, the proportion of Chinese buyers has been gradually decreasing from 69.3% in 2020.

The area where Chinese buyers purchased the most real estate last year was Wonmi-gu, Bucheon City (817 people). This was followed by Hwaseong City (745), Danwon-gu, Ansan City (649), Siheung City (632), Bupyeong-gu, Incheon City (589), Sosa-gu, Bucheon City (449), Michuhol-gu, Incheon City (397), and Sangnok-gu, Ansan City (351), indicating a concentration of purchases in the southwestern Gyeonggi region. In Seoul, many Chinese buyers purchased real estate in Guro-gu (190) and Geumcheon-gu (144), with 50 buyers also purchasing in the so-called Gangnam 3 districts: Gangnam-gu (22), Seocho-gu (16), and Songpa-gu (12).

The second largest group after Chinese buyers was Americans. Last year, 2,528 American buyers accounted for 14.5% of all foreign buyers. The area where Americans purchased the most real estate was Pyeongtaek City, Gyeonggi Province (206), where a U.S. military base is located, followed by Asan, Chungnam (118), Seocho, Seoul (96), Gangnam (80), Yongsan (70), Cheoin-gu, Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province (52), Yeonsu-gu, Incheon City (46), and Bundang-gu, Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province (45). Many American purchases were concentrated in popular Seoul areas such as Gangnam and Yongsan.

By region, the area where foreigners purchased the most real estate was Gyeonggi Province (7,842), followed by Incheon (2,273), Seoul (2,089), and Chungnam (1,480). In Sejong, the number of foreign real estate buyers increased significantly by 87.5%, from 40 in 2023 to 75 last year. Busan (238) saw a 30.1% increase, and Seoul saw a 25.2% increase. Conversely, Incheon (-2.4%), Gwangju (-12.4%), and Daejeon (-22.2%) experienced a decrease in foreign real estate buyers compared to the previous year.