 |
| gettyimagesbank |
By Lee Kyung-min
The number of homes in Seoul bought by foreigners has jumped over the past four years, contributing to a continued rise in prices of residential buildings in the capital, data showed Monday.
According to the Korea Appraisal Board (KAB), foreigners purchased 10,341 homes in Seoul from January 2015 to August 2019.
Of the total, Chinese bought 4,773, accounting for nearly half, or 46.2 percent.
Americans bought over a quarter, or 25.9 percent (2,674), while Japanese purchased 185, or 1.8 percent.
Since 2017, Chinese have accounted for over half of foreign home buyers, a rapid increase from 2015 when they bought 722, less than a third of the total.
In 2015, Americans bought 631, accounting for 28.3 percent.
Already in the first nine months of 2019, Chinese purchased 619 homes, more than three times those bought by Americans (190).
Chinese favored four districts ― Geumcheon-gu, Guro-gu, Yeongdeungpo-gu and Jung-gu, all known for a heavy presence of Chinese nationals.
Of 154 homes bought by foreigners in the January-August period of 2019, 88, or 97 percent of purchases, were made by Chinese buyers.
Similarly, of 154 foreign purchases in Guro-gu in the same period, 146, or 94 percent, were made by Chinese.
Chinese home buyers accounted for 73 percent of homes bought by foreigners in Yeongdeungpo-gu, and 61.9 percent in Jung-gu.
Market analysts say the growing demand from foreigners will continue due to rising real estate prices in Seoul in recent years, a trend gaining further upward momentum with a series of government anti-speculation measures backfiring.
The median home price stood at 657 million won ($565,000) as of November, up 25 percent, or 150 million won, from 586 million won in November 2016.
"Housing prices have soared over the past few months, but they will spike further," a real estate market analyst said.
"Not only Koreans but also foreigners will continue to make hefty investments in real estate driven by ample liquidity in the market amid low interest rates. Foreigners stand to gain in the Korean real estate market as no regulatory hurdles are in place," he said.
The current measure putting a ceiling on a presale home price is only reinforcing market expectation, inducing the speculative forces to thrive, according to Seoul National University economist Lee In-ho.
"The more the government tries to control the price, the higher the price will go," Lee said.
"The demand which inevitably includes some speculative forces cannot be taken under control. Compounded by this, the construction regulations currently in effect will make it harder for the real estate developers to increase supply any time soon. Unless the government understands that market expectation is something that cannot be managed, prices will not drop."
![[INTERVIEW] 'Money Heist: Korea' writer feels satisfied to expand series' franchise](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/e264f8d5589442489d72f9494ca3f1c7.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
