A visitor gazes at apartment complexes from Mount Nam in Seoul, May 8.
Yonhap Home purchases by foreign nationals in Seoul and surrounding areas have dropped sharply after the government designated the regions as land transaction permit zones for non-Korean buyers last August, government data showed Friday.
This suggests that tighter regulations may have curbed speculative demand amid controversy over claims that overseas buyers, particularly Chinese nationals, are fueling demand for luxury housing in upscale neighborhoods.
According to data released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, housing transactions involving foreign buyers in Seoul and surrounding areas declined by 28 percent to 3,304 between September 2025 and April 2026, from 4,617 a year earlier.
The decline was most evident in Seoul, where home purchases by foreign nationals fell 44 percent to 545 from 968.
