As Chinese property ownership in South Korea triples, locals ‘struggle to buy a home’, politician says
- Hong Suk-joon of the ruling PPP said that a Chinese property buying spree can put upward pressure on housing prices, just as many Koreans struggle to buy a home
- Of the more than 87,000 foreign owned properties, Chinese nationals owned about 54.3 per cent, more than double that of US citizens, who were in second
Citing data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Tuesday, Hong Suk-joon of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) said 181,391 lots of land nationwide were owned by foreign nationals as of last June.
A lot is a unit of land that is available for building a house or other forms of residence, with varying size depending on regions, population density and other real estate-related conditions.
The total combined size of the real estate increased to 20.81 million square meters from 16.09 million square meters over the cited period.
The value of the properties also increased to 3.69 trillion won (US$2.77 billion) from 2.84 trillion won.
“The data adds to concerns over a housing crisis as it shows Chinese nationals can increasingly go on a property shopping spree while many Koreans are struggling to buy a home,” the lawmaker said.
I am afraid that a Chinese buying spree can put upward pressure on housing prices