[이코노믹리뷰=신진영 기자] It is difficult to buy expensive homes in Korea because the government tightened various loan regulations. In the meantime, it was revealed that foreigners made loans to buy’real’ expensive houses in Seoul. In order to prevent foreigners from speculating on real estate, there are voices that the regulations on foreign real estate acquisition must be strengthened.
As a result of analyzing the details of the housing financing plan submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport by So Byung-hun, a member of the National Assembly’s National Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, Rep. As of October, 1793 cases, an increase of 59%.
In particular, it was confirmed that 691 people, or 39% of 1793 people, bought a house to rent.
According to Congressman So, Chinese A purchased a house in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul for 7.8 billion won. This was purchased by borrowing about 5.9 billion won, 76% of the total house price, from a domestic bank.
In June of last year, American B purchased an 80% stake in a house in Dongja-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul for a total of 1.28 billion won. It was also found that about 39% of the total cost was financed by mortgage loans. In addition, Mr. B is a multi-homeowner who owns three houses, including a detached house located in Dongja-dong, Yongsan-gu and a commercial house in Goseong-gun, Gangwon-do. It turned out that Mr. B purchased a stake in Dongja-dong housing in Yongsan-gu and received a loan for a total of 500 million won from a financial institution in Korea using the commercial housing in Goseong-gun as collateral.
The reason they were able to finance their home purchases with loans from domestic financial institutions is because the homes they purchased are commercial housing including neighborhood living facilities and are not subject to government loan regulations.
In 2017, the government designated all areas of Seoul as overheated speculation districts and banned mortgage loans when purchasing more than 900 million high-priced homes in the overheated speculation district in 2018, except for the purpose of living. In this way, it has become impossible to purchase houses by receiving loans from domestic financial institutions, but shopping malls and commercial houses can receive loans from 60% to 80% of the appraised price.
In Australia, the immigration population and Chinese investment in real estate have soared since 2012. As housing prices rose, the Australian government banned loans from foreigners without domestic income, and tightened regulations on mortgages to improve financial soundness. It reduced foreign housing investment in Australia by controlling the inflow of mainland Chinese capital and raising the tax rate on foreign real estate investment.
Rep. So Byung-hoon said, “In recent years, foreigners who are purchasing real estate for rental business in Korea are not subject to regulations such as the mortgage recognition ratio (LTV) and total debt repayment ratio (DTI) due to the strengthened government loan regulations. I’m looking at it.”
Rep. So argued, “In order to prevent foreigners from speculating on real estate in Korea, it is necessary to reinforce the regulations to introduce LTV and DTI for commercial and commercial housing by revising the’Banking Act’ and the’Banking Supervision Regulations’.”