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Chinese buyers have snapped up more than half of foreign-owned homes in South Korea

  • Official data revealed on Wednesday shows that foreign nationals own 83,512 homes in South Korea – more than 54 per cent of which are Chinese-owned
  • This marks the first time that statistics on homes owned by foreigners have been officially announced by the South Korean government

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A general view of apartment buildings, office blocks and other building in Seoul. Photo: AFP
Chinese people account for more than 54 per cent of homes owned by foreigners in South Korea, while Americans account for 24 per cent of them, according to the land ministry’s latest data on foreign ownership of land and housing.

Data revealed on Wednesday by the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry shows foreign nationals owned 83,512 homes in South Korea as of the end of last year, accounting for 0.4 per cent of all residential property in the country.

This is the first time that statistics on homes owned by foreigners have been officially announced by the government. So far, the land ministry had been announcing statistics on a regular basis on foreign landownership, but not the number of homes in the country owned by foreigners. The disclosure of the data has been ascribed to President Yoon Suk-yeol’s pledge to regulate foreigners’ speculative housing transactions.

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By category, 91 per cent of the homes owned by foreigners are in multi-complex housing, such as flats, while the other 9 per cent are single-family detached houses.

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By region, 73 per cent of the homes held by foreigners are located in metropolitan areas, including Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.

While 93.5 per cent of the foreign homeowners hold only one residence, another 5 per cent have two residences. The remaining 1.5 per cent hold more than three.

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With regard to land, foreigners hold 264 million square metres in South Korea, which is about 0.26 per cent of the country’s entire land area. The figure shows an increase of 1.8 per cent, compared to the previous year.

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