Foreigners owned more than 108,000 homes in South Korea at the end of 2025, with Chinese nationals accounting for more than half of all foreign-owned properties, government data showed Friday.According to statistics released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, foreign nationals owned 108,231 homes in Korea as of Dec. 31, 2025, up 8 percent from 100,216 last year. Foreign-owned homes accounted for 0.55 percent of the country's 19.65 million housing units.Chinese nationals owned the largest share at 61,000 homes, or 56.7 percent of all foreign-owned properties. They were followed by Americans with about 23,000 homes, Canadians with 6,500, Taiwanese with 3,400, and Vietnamese and Australians with about 2,000 each.When measured against the number of long-term foreign residents in Korea, the ministry's data showed that Americans recorded the highest homeownership rate at 27.4 percent, followed by Canadians at 24.3 percent, Australians at 22.2 percent, Taiwanese at 17.8 percent and Chinese nationals at 7.5 percent. Apartment complexes fill the skyline in Seoul on May 8. Government data showed that foreigners owned 108,231 homes in South Korea as of the end of 2025. (Yonhap) Gyeonggi Province had the largest concentration of foreign-owned homes with 42,386 units, representing 39.2 percent of the total. Seoul followed with 24,541 homes and Incheon with 11,279.Foreign ownership was particularly concentrated in areas near industrial complexes, including Bucheon, Ansan, Suwon, Siheung and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, as well as Bupyeong in Incheon.Despite the increase in overall ownership, foreign housing transactions declined following the government's designation of Seoul and key metropolitan areas as land transaction permit zones for foreigners in August last year.According to ministry data cited by local reports, foreign housing transactions in Seoul fell sharply after the measure took effect, with declines also recorded in Gyeonggi Province and Incheon. Transactions by Chinese and American buyers likewise decreased during the period.The ministry said it would continue monitoring foreign ownership and transaction data to identify suspicious activity and prevent speculative purchases.Separately, foreigners owned 270.2 million square meters of land in Korea as of the end of 2025, accounting for 0.27 percent of the country's territory. The officially assessed value of foreign-owned land reached 34.1 trillion won, up 2 percent from a year earlier.