Portion of foreign buyers hits record high in Korean real estate market in 2023

Apartment complexes in Seoul are seen from Namhansanseong, a historical mountain fortress in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, Feb. 23. Yonhap

The portion of foreigners who bought real estate in Korea last year hit a record high, led by Chinese buyers, court data showed Sunday.

A total of 15,600 foreign nationals completed property purchases in 2023, accounting for a record 0.9 percent of the total land acquisitions, according to the data from the online real estate registry service run by the Supreme Court.

The percentage of foreign buyers in the Korean real estate market has been on a steady increase since the Korean court started to compile such data in 2010.

It was 0.2 percent in 2010 and rose to 0.33 percent in 2014, 0.64 percent in 2018 and 0.75 percent in 2022.

By country, Chinese people buying real estate in the country totaled 11,000 last year, accounting for 72.9 percent of all foreign buyers in the country, followed by Americans at 7,800 and Canadians at 1,600.

The data also demonstrated that more than 12,000 foreigners purchased residential properties, including apartments, representing a share of 1.21 percent in the segment.

In Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul, non-Korean buyers accounted for 2.09 percent of total residential transactions, and South Chungcheong Province saw a foreign portion of 1.74 percent, while Gyeonggi Province recorded 1.68 percent, according to the data. (Yonhap)