Foreigners Purchased 7,903 Houses in Seoul Over 5 Years... More Than Half from China

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] Over the past five years, foreigners have purchased a total of 7,903 houses in Seoul. Among them, Chinese buyers accounted for more than half, with 4,044 cases.

According to the 'Status of Foreigners' Housing Purchases by Nationality and Autonomous District in Seoul' received on the 12th from the National Assembly Legislative Research Office by Tae Young-ho, a member of the People Power Party, foreigners bought 7,903 houses in Seoul from 2016 to March of this year.

Chinese buyers accounted for the highest proportion with 4,044 purchases, followed by Americans with 2,044 cases.

By year, the numbers were 1,791 in 2016, 1,707 in 2017, 1,549 in 2018, 1,174 in 2019, 1,384 last year, and 298 as of March this year.

In particular, Chinese buyers recorded 861 cases in 2016, 815 in 2017, 775 in 2018, 654 in 2019, 777 last year, and 162 as of March this year, showing figures close to or exceeding half of the total each year.

During the same period, the autonomous district where Chinese buyers purchased the most houses was Guro-gu (1,007 cases), ranking first. This was followed by Yeongdeungpo-gu (437 cases) and Geumcheon-gu (430 cases). Chinese buyers also purchased 39 houses in Gangnam-gu and 31 houses in Seocho-gu, respectively.

Representative Tae said, "Countries such as New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore impose regulations on real estate acquisition by non-resident foreigners, such as vacant home taxes and bans on purchasing newly built houses. However, in our country, non-resident foreigners can acquire real estate under the same procedures as domestic residents, except for land subject to permission under Article 9 of the 'Act on Reporting and Inspection of Real Estate Transactions' and reporting under the 'Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.'" He added, "Our country can also consider measures to regulate speculative residential real estate acquisitions by non-resident foreigners."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.