The number of foreign landlords nearly doubled over the past two years, approaching 20,000.
According to the Court Registry Information Plaza on Dec. 5, from January to November this year, 18,780 foreign nationals were listed as landlords for properties granted a fixed date nationwide, up 15.9% from the same period last year (16,198). Compared with 2023 (9,808), the number nearly doubled.
One out of two foreign landlords owned a home in Seoul. Among foreign landlords who signed lease contracts this year, 8,830 were in Seoul, accounting for 47% of the total. One out of three of them owned a home in the three Gangnam districts (Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa). By district, Gangnam had the most at 1,033, followed by Seocho (821), Songpa (816), Mapo (595), Yongsan (549), and Yeongdeungpo (517).
Most foreigners who keep an owner-occupied home in Korea do so to earn rental revenue. Because it is for investment, they appear to have mainly purchased homes in areas with higher price appreciation potential. After Seoul, the most foreign landlords owned homes in Gyeonggi Province at 5,578, followed by Incheon (1,587), South Chungcheong (525), and Busan (485). The industrial complexes in Asan and Cheonan in South Chungcheong are foreign investment zones, so there tend to be more foreign landlords there than in other local governments.
The rise in foreign landlords appears likely to pause for the time being. In August, the government introduced a real estate transaction permit system for foreigners, under which foreigners cannot obtain purchase approval for real estate such as dwellings across Seoul and designated areas in Gyeonggi and Incheon unless it is for actual residence. In effect, investment to earn rental revenue has become impossible. As a result, foreign purchases of homes in the greater Seoul area are also decreasing. According to the Court Registry Information Plaza, the number of foreigners who bought collective buildings (apartments, rowhouses and multi-family homes, officetels, etc.) in the capital region and completed ownership transfer registration fell from 1,051 in August to 976 in September, 652 in October, and 611 in November.
The government is also tightening regulations on foreign landlords. Jeonse guarantee accidents caused by foreign landlords rose from three cases (500 million won) in 2021 to 23 cases (5.3 billion won) in 2023. Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) in February introduced a one-strike-out system under which it immediately proceeds to a compulsory auction if a foreign landlord causes a guarantee accident by failing to return a tenant's jeonse deposit on time. Because foreigners' residences are often unclear and, if they return to their home country, it is difficult to secure an enforceable title, making debt recovery hard, this alternative was put in place.