South Korea's real estate thrives with surge in foreign ownership

In the first half of this year, the percentage of land and residences owned by international individuals in South Korea witnessed a rise. Chinese citizens held the highest proportion of homes, while American ownership dominated in terms of land. As per data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) on Nov. 29, the number of foreign individuals owning homes in South Korea by the end of June increased by 4.6% to 85,358 compared to six months earlier. The total homes owned by them reached 87,223, marking a 4.4% increase during the same period, constituting around 0.46% of South Korea’s total housing.
Among these, Chinese nationals owned 47,327 homes, making up more than half at 54.3%. Chinese nationals saw an increase of 2,438 homes compared to six months earlier, contributing to 65.7% of the overall growth in foreign-owned homes in the first half of this year. Following closely, Americans held the second-highest number with 20,469 homes (23.5%), trailed by Canadians at 5,959 (6.8%), and Taiwanese at 3,286 (3.8%).
The majority of foreign-owned homes, totalling 73.3%, are concentrated in the metropolitan area, with Gyeonggi Province leading with 33,168 homes (38.0%), followed by Seoul with 22,286 homes (25.6%), and Incheon with 8,477 homes (9.7%).
Of those who own foreigner-owned homes, 93.4% are single-home owners. The ownership of two homes constituted 5.2%, involving 4,398 individuals, while those owning three homes numbered 556, four-homeowners totalled 190, and individuals possessing five or more homes amounted to 451.
The overall land area owned by foreign individuals in South Korea, as of last year end, increased by 0.6% compared to six months earlier, reaching 264.72 million square meters. This represents 0.26% of the entire national land area. While foreign land ownership has consistently grown, the rate of increase has maintained a gradual pace since the observed slowdown in 2016.
The publicly disclosed value of land owned by foreigners reached a total of 33.2 trillion won (US$25.68 billion), marking a 1.0% increase from the end of the previous year. American-owned land, totalling 141.68 million square meters, constituted 53.4% of the overall foreign-owned land, with Chinese ownership at 7.8%, Europeans at 7.1%, and Japanese at 6.2%. Regionally, land in Gyeonggi Province comprised 18.4%, or 48.74 million square meters, of the total foreign-owned land area, followed by South Jeolla Province at 14.7% and North Gyeongsang Province at 14.0%.
Among foreign individuals who owned land, 55.8% were ethnic Koreans living abroad. Foreign corporations accounted for 33.8%, while entirely foreign individuals constituted 10.2%.
Regarding land use, miscellaneous land, including forests and agricultural land, was the most common at 67.6%, followed by industrial land at 22.2%, leisure land at 4.5%, and residential land at 4.2%.
The consistent demand for property in South Korea shows that investors are positive about its real estate. The present trends highlight that ethnic Koreans are keen on getting property in their homeland while expecting higher returns on their investment in the future.

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