Among foreigners, Americans own the most land in Korea, while Chinese own the most homes.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 29th the "Statistics on foreign real estate holdings and transaction trends as of the end of 2025."
As of the end of last year, the area of domestic land held by foreigners was 270.176 million square meters more than a year earlier, accounting for 0.27% of Korea's total territory. The growth rate of land held by foreigners rose from 0.2% at the end of 2023 to 1.2% at the end of 2024, then came in at 0.8% at the end of last year.
By nationality, Americans held the most domestic land, exceeding half at 53.6%. ▲ China (7.9%) ▲ Europe (6.9%) ▲ Japan (6.0%) followed. The total officially assessed value of the land they hold was 3.41431 trillion won, up 2.0% from a year earlier.
By region, Gyeonggi Province (18.5%), where large corporate factories and industrial complexes are concentrated, had the most. Next were ▲ South Jeolla (14.9%) ▲ North Gyeongsang (13.5%). By who purchased the land, overseas Koreans with foreign nationality accounted for the most at 55.6%, followed by foreign corporations (33.3%) and non-Korean foreigners (10.9%). By use, other sites such as forest land or farmland made up the majority at 68.1%.
By contrast, in the housing market, Chinese dominance stood out. Of the 108,231 dwellings owned by foreigners in Korea, those owned by Chinese totaled 61,439, more than half. They were followed by ▲ Americans with 23,187 ▲ Canadians with 6,542 ▲ Taiwanese with 3,392.
However, when comparing the actual homeownership rate against the number of long-term residents, people with Western nationalities showed a stronger tendency to buy homes in Korea. Americans owned homes at a rate of 1 in 4 long-term residents (27.4%), and Canadians (24.3%) and Australians (22.2%) also showed high ownership rates. In contrast, Chinese had a homeownership share of only 7.5% relative to long-term residents.
The majority of foreign-owned dwellings, 72.3% (78,206 units), were concentrated in the greater Seoul area. They mainly settled in areas close to industrial complexes such as Bucheon, Ansan, Suwon and Siheung. By type, multifamily dwellings such as apartments and villas accounted for more than 95%, and 93.4% of all foreign landlords were end users owning only one home.
In addition, after the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) designated all of Seoul and major areas of Gyeonggi and Incheon as land transaction permission zones in August last year to stamp out foreign speculation, the volume of foreign transactions of dwellings in the greater Seoul area fell 28%. The decline was particularly pronounced among Americans and Chinese, who had shown strong buying interest. Transactions by Chinese, who account for most foreign transactions in the capital region, fell 26%, while Americans plunged 44%.
For Chinese buyers, mid- to low-priced apartments or multiunit dwellings priced at 600 million won or less in places such as Ansan, Bucheon and Pyeongtaek were mainly traded. By area, foreign dwelling transactions in Seoul fell 44%, the steepest drop, with Seocho District tumbling 79%. In Gyeonggi Province, Suwon fell 41%, and in Incheon, Yeonsu District fell 45%, leading the slump in transactions.
With the number of foreign residents increasing and real estate holdings gradually expanding, the government plans to continue constant monitoring.
An official at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, "We are carefully scrutinizing unusual transactions that show signs of illegal activity by cross-linking foreigners' holdings of dwellings and land with actual transaction filing data," and added, "We plan to thoroughly block and strictly manage speculative transactions by foreigners in the real estate market."