The number of properties purchased by foreigners exceeded 15,000 in Korea in 2023, marking a new high of foreigner real estate buyers on record.
According to the latest data on buyers applying for registrations of ownership transfer after purchases and sale on the court registration information plaza on March 10, a total of 15,614 foreigners bought real estate in Korea in 2023 and applied for registrations of ownership transfer, accounting for 0.90 percent of all buyers.
This marked the highest proportion of foreigners who bought real estate in Korea since 2010 when the Korean government began to provide related statistics.
As the number of foreigners purchasing real estate has increased in Korea, so has the number of foreigners who are renting out their properties for profit in the country.
According to the status of landlords whose leased properties with definite dates on the Court Registration Information Plaza, a total of 17,786 lease contracts were signed with foreign landlords in 2023 and the figure is the highest number since 2010 the statistics began.
By nationality, the Chinese totaled 11,384 (72.9 percent) of the foreigners who bought real estate in Korea in 2023. They were followed by 7,892 from the United States, 1,627 from Canada, 521 from Taiwan, and 510 from Australia.
Among real estate properties, the number of foreigners who bought residential buildings (apartments, office buildings, multi-unit houses, stores in commercial buildings, etc.) totaled 12,027 in 2023, accounting for 1.21 percent of all buyers. The number has been on the rise since 2022, when it crossed the one percent mark for the first time.
Incheon had the highest percentage of foreigners who bought aggregate buildings in Korea in 2023 (2.09 percent), followed by South Chungcheong Province (1.74 percent), Gyeonggi Province (1.68 percent), Jeju Province (1.53 percent), and North Chungcheong Province (1.21 percent).
Lease contracts with landlords who were foreigners were concentrated in Seoul (4,612) and Gyeonggi Province (3814), followed by Incheon (499), South Chungcheong Province (301), Busan (296), and Jeju Province (155).