The number of suspicious foreign real estate transactions reported to relevant authorities for potential legal violations has more than doubled over a one-year period, primarily centered around the capital area and high-priced properties.
According to parliamentary audit data submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Representative Kim Jong-yang of the ruling People Power Party, belonging to the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, the number of flagged suspicious foreign real estate transactions in Seoul surged from 64 in 2024 to 135 last year.
The upward trend was particularly prominent in high-end transactions.
Transactions involving properties priced at 3 billion won or more more than doubled from 29 to 62 during the same period, while those ranging between 1 billion and 3 billion won increased from 18 to 28.
By nationality, Chinese nationals accounted for the largest share.
Out of 383 reported cases categorized by nationality last year, Chinese nationals accounted for 184 cases—nearly half—followed by U.S. nationals with 107 cases.
Suspicious transactions refer to deals selected for investigation due to abnormal signs regarding the transaction price or fund-raising methods.
If investigations reveal suspected legal violations, such as the illegal inflow of overseas funds, clever tax avoidance through gift splitting, or false reporting, the cases are referred to the relevant authorities.
Foreign-owned land in South Korea is also steadily expanding.
The number of land parcels owned by foreigners nationwide increased by 18.6 percent at the end of last year compared to 167,725 parcels at the end of 2021.
The publicly assessed value of land owned by foreigners also rose by 6.5 percent during the same period, going from 32.0554 trillion won to 34.1431 trillion won.
In particular, the number of land parcels owned by Chinese nationals jumped by 32.8 percent from 64,171 to 85,237 over the same period, with their publicly assessed value climbing 31.0 percent from 3.2845 trillion won to 4.3033 trillion won.
Meanwhile, as domestic mortgage regulations have been significantly tightened recently, issues regarding fairness in fundraising between domestic residents and foreigners have been raised.
Looking at Seoul housing funding plans submitted between February and April of this year, 52.2 percent of foreign buyers did not report any financial institution loans.
Because foreigners can secure funds from overseas, they are relatively less affected by domestic loan regulations.
Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Lee Ui-sun | Graphics by Lee Jung-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
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