Half of Suspicious High-End Real Estate Transactions Involve Chinese Nationals... Foreign Buyers Step In as Domestic Loans Are Blocked

It has been confirmed that the number of suspicious real estate transactions by foreigners referred to relevant authorities due to suspected illegalities has more than doubled over the span of a year, 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 People Power Party Representative Kim Jong-yang's office of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, the number of suspicious foreign real estate transaction referrals in Seoul surged from 64 cases in 2024 to 135 cases last year.

The upward trend was particularly pronounced in high-end transactions.

The number of referrals for transactions valued at 3 billion won or more more than doubled from 29 cases to 62 cases over the same period, while transactions between 1 billion won and 3 billion won increased from 18 cases to 28 cases.

By nationality, Chinese nationals accounted for the largest share.

Out of 383 nationality-broken-down referrals recorded last year, Chinese nationals accounted for 184 cases, approaching half, followed by U.S. nationals with 107 cases.

Suspicious transactions refer to those selected for investigation due to abnormal signs in transaction amounts or fund-raising methods.

If the investigation reveals suspected illegalities such as the illegal inflow of overseas funds, under-the-table gift tax avoidance, or false reporting, the cases are referred to relevant authorities.

Foreign-owned domestic land is also steadily expanding.

The number of domestic land plots owned by foreigners increased by 18.6% at the end of last year compared to 167,725 plots at the end of 2021.

The publicly assessed land value of foreign-owned land also grew by 6.5% over the same period, rising from 32.0554 trillion won to 34.1431 trillion won.

In particular, land owned by Chinese nationals jumped 32.8% from 64,171 plots to 85,237 plots over the same period, with its publicly assessed value surging 31.0% from 3.2845 trillion won to 4.3033 trillion won.

Meanwhile, as domestic lending regulations have been significantly tightened recently, issues regarding fairness in fund-raising between domestic and foreign buyers have been raised.

Looking at housing fund-raising plans in Seoul from February to April this year, 52.2% of foreigners did not report any financial institution loan amounts.

Because foreigners can secure funds from overseas, they are relatively less affected by domestic lending regulations.

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Lee Eui-sun | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.