The proportion of local land and homes owned by foreigners showed an increase in the first half of this year. Chinese nationals had the highest ownership percentage of homes, while land ownership was predominantly American.
According to statistics released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) on Nov. 29, the number of foreigners owning homes in South Korea as of the end of June this year increased by 3,732 individuals, or 4.6%, to 85,358 compared to six months ago. The total number of homes owned by them reached 87,223, marking an increase of 3,711 homes, or 4.4%, during the same period. This accounts for approximately 0.46% of the total housing in South Korea.
Among local homes owned by foreigners, Chinese nationals possessed 47,327 homes, accounting for more than half at 54.3%. The number of homes owned by Chinese nationals increased by 2,438 compared to six months ago, representing 65.7% of the overall growth in foreign-owned homes during the first half of this year. Following Chinese nationals, Americans held the second-highest number of homes at 20,469, or 23.5%, followed by Canadians at 5,959, or 6.8%, and Taiwanese at 3,286, or 3.8%.
Foreign-owned homes are concentrated in the metropolitan area, accounting for 73.3% of the total. Gyeonggi Province contains the highest number with 33,168 homes, or 38.0%, followed by Seoul with 22,286 homes, or 25.6%, and Incheon with 8,477 homes, or 9.7%.
Of foreigner-owned home occupants, 93.4% were single-home owners. Those owning two homes accounted for 5.2%, or 4,398 individuals, three-home owners numbered 556, four-home owners totaled 190, and those owning five or more homes amounted to 451.
As of the end of last year, the total land area owned by foreign individuals in South Korea increased by 0.6% from six months earlier, reaching 264.72 million square meters. This accounts for 0.26% of the entire national land area. While the land owned by foreigners has consistently shown an increasing trend, the growth rate has maintained a gradual pace since the slowdown in the rate of increase observed in 2016.
The publicly disclosed land value of land owned by foreigners amounted to a total of 33.2 trillion won (US$25.68 billion), marking a 1.0% increase from the end of last year. Land owned by Americans, totaling 141.68 million square meters, accounted for 53.4% of the overall foreign-owned land, followed by Chinese at 7.8%, Europeans at 7.1%, and Japanese at 6.2%. By region, land located 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 owning land, 55.8% were ethnic Koreans living abroad. Foreign corporations accounted for 33.8%, and entirely foreign individuals constituted 10.2%. In terms of land use, miscellaneous land, such as 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%.
MOLIT plans to rigorously manage speculative transactions by foreigners in real estate by cross-referencing statistics on land and housing ownership with transaction reports to investigate any irregular transactions. The results of the second round of planning investigations into foreign speculation in real estate are expected to be announced next month.