Seoul Mayor orders regulatory review of foreign buyers' housing purchases
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Oh directed relevant departments to examine how major countries, including the United States, Australia, Singapore and Canada, regulate and monitor foreign purchases of housing for non residential purposes.
Oh also requested the departments to assess whether such measures could be applied in Seoul.
The city government said the mayor's directive was prompted by concerns that purchases of high-priced homes by foreign buyers who do not live there could distort the real estate market and lead to reverse discrimination against local residents.
So far, the city government has proposed amendments to the Act on Report on Real Estate Transactions to limit real estate acquisitions by foreign nationals who do not live in the property to the Land Ministry.
It has also joined hands with the Seoul Institute to analyze foreign property ownership by nationality, age and region to improve transparency in real estate transactions involving foreign nationals since July.
The National Tax Service launched a special tax investigation into 49 foreign nationals who allegedly acquired high-priced houses through illicit means in Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu, Songpa-gu and Yongsan-gu in early August.
The tax agency added that most of them were from the US and China, and about 40 percent of them were ethnic Koreans.
The city government plans to review different measures, including pre-approval and permit systems based on the principle of reciprocity, and consult with the Land Ministry to determine the policy direction for high-priced real estate acquisitions by foreign buyers for purposes other than living there.
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