Foreign National and Corporate Land Transaction Permit Zone Lifted Across 23 Cities Including Suwon

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province will lift the foreign national and corporate land transaction permit zone designated across 23 cities including Suwon as of May 1.

According to the province on the 29th, this lift measures follows the expiration of the designation period for the foreign national and corporate land transaction permit zone on April 30.

The province previously designated the area as a land transaction permit zone for six months in October 2020 to block speculative property acquisitions by foreign nationals and corporations.

Subsequently, the province re-designated the area as a land transaction permit zone for one year in April 2021.

The province explained that the permit zone is being lifted reflecting the opinions of designated cities, citing various indicators such as domestic and external economic uncertainty, rising loan interest rates, and recent changes in housing market trends including housing price indices and transaction supply-demand indices trending downward and stabilizing.

With this lift of the permit zone, foreign nationals and corporations can trade residential land without approval from the respective city, and the obligation to use previously approved acquired land also expires.

A provincial official stated, "Even with the lifting of the land transaction permit zone, speculative demand from foreign nationals and corporations is expected to remain limited due to the government's strengthened verification of foreign national real estate transactions and measures to eliminate corporate speculative demand."