사진 확대

The number of foreigners who bought apartments and shopping malls in the Seoul metropolitan area dropped sharply by more than 2,000 during the one-year period of the implementation of the land transaction permit zone for foreigners. Seven out of 10 people are Chinese.

According to the court's registration information square on the 15th, 9,184 foreigners bought collective buildings such as apartments, officetels, and shopping centers in Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon from September last year to last month, immediately after the designation of the foreign Tohe district. The figure is down 18.1% (2025) from 11,209 in the same period just before the regulation (October 2024 to August 2025).

Considering that it is a monthly statistic, August, which includes the effective date of August 26 last year, was included in the pre-regulation period.

Earlier in August last year, the government designated all of Seoul, 23 cities and counties in Gyeonggi Province, and 7 autonomous districts in Incheon as Touhe districts to block foreigners from speculating on real estate. Foreigners who buy houses in the Tohe district must obtain local government permission and live in the area for two years.

Of the total decrease of 2025, 1,470 (72.6%) were identified as Chinese nationals. The number of Chinese buyers in the Seoul metropolitan area fell 19.6% from 7,489 to 6,019 during the same period. In Seoul, Chinese buyers fell 9.2 percent to 766 from 844 and U.S. buyers also fell 3.1 percent to 612 from 632.

The number of foreign buyers in the non-metropolitan area fell from 4,901 to 4,841, but the rate of decrease was only 1.2%. This is interpreted as the effect that the Tohe district was applied only to the metropolitan area.

By region, the decline in the Gyeonggi region was the largest. The number of foreign buyers in Gyeonggi Province fell 21.6 percent from 6,812 to 5,339. Incheon saw a 17.4 percent decrease from 2,344 to 1936 and Seoul saw a 7 percent decrease from 2,053 to 1909.

Until just before the implementation of the Tohe system last year, there were not a few applications for foreign registration. The number of foreign buyers in the Seoul metropolitan area stood at 1,211 in August last year, up 6.5 percent from 1,137 in the previous month. This is the highest since October 2021 (1128 people). The number of foreign buyers in Incheon stood at 380, up 56.4% from 243 in the previous month. Compared to the same month last year (183 people), it is more than double.

Immediately after its implementation, the number of buyers in the Seoul metropolitan area stood at 1,154. In October, the figure was 785, down 32 percent in a month. There is a time difference between real estate contracts and ownership transfer registration, so the pre-implementation transaction seems to have been partially reflected in the September registration.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is reportedly considering whether to extend it as the deadline for designation approaches on the 25th. As a number of suspected illegal acts, such as expedient gifts and illegal imports of overseas funds, have been caught in the Seoul metropolitan area, the possibility of extension is weighed.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to decide whether to extend the designated period after deliberation by the Central Urban Planning Committee.