Buying in Seoul vs Australia: the real costs

You can buy an apartment in Seoul as an Australian. You just can't buy one to leave empty.

The short version

Since 26 August 2025, foreigners need a permit from the local district office to buy a home anywhere in Seoul, and must move in within four months and live there for two years. The rule has been extended to 25 August 2027 [1][2].
The single biggest cost difference: on a home of about A$1 million, Seoul's acquisition tax is 3%, about ₩28 million (roughly A$30,000), against NSW transfer duty of about A$39,200 [3][7].
Agents' fees in Seoul are capped by the city, from 0.4% to 0.7% of the price depending on the band [4].
Loans are tightly rationed: 40% LVR in Seoul's regulated areas, with hard caps on the loan amount for pricier homes [5].
Sell an Australian home as a foreign resident and you generally lose the main residence CGT exemption [9].

Can an Australian buy in South Korea?

In principle, yes. Korea lets foreigners own land and apartments outright, and Australians have bought in Seoul for years. What changed in 2025 is the Seoul area.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport designated the whole of Seoul, plus most of Incheon and a large part of Gyeonggi, as foreigner land transaction permit zones for housing [1]. Inside them, a foreign buyer must:

get permission from the city, county or district office before buying
submit a funding plan, including where foreign money comes from and your visa type
move in within four months of buying
live in the home for two years

Break the residence rule and the authorities can issue an enforcement order and repeated fines of up to 10% of the purchase price [1]. The designation was due to end on 25 August 2026, but in August 2026 the government extended it by a year to 25 August 2027, with the same areas [2].

In practice, this turns Seoul into a market for foreigners who actually live there. An Australian teaching in Mapo or working in Gangnam can still buy a home to live in. Buying a Seoul flat from Sydney as an investment is, for now, off the table.

What changes with residency or another passport

The permit rules target foreign nationals, so a Korean citizen, including a dual national, buys as a local. If you hold long-term residence in Korea, ask the district office before you sign whether your status changes anything; don't assume it does.

Upfront costs side by side

Rates as at November 2026. Won amounts with AUD at the RBA rate of ₩941.77 on 5 November 2026.

Cost	Seoul	Buying back home (as an Australian living abroad)
Purchase tax / stamp duty	Acquisition tax on a home: 1% up to ₩600 million, sliding from 1% to 3% between ₩600 and ₩900 million, 3% above ₩900 million, for a buyer's first home [3]. Local education tax and, for larger flats, a rural special tax are added	NSW transfer duty: A$11,602 plus 4.5% of the value over A$387,000, up to A$1.29 million (2026–27) [7]. Each state differs
Foreign buyer surcharge	No separate foreigner tax, but higher acquisition tax rates for second and later homes in regulated areas such as Seoul (8% and 12% under the multi-home rules) [3]	None for Australian citizens, wherever they live, under Revenue NSW's surcharge rules
Legal or notary fees	A judicial scrivener (beopmusa) usually handles registration for a fee; quotes vary	Conveyancer or solicitor, usually a few thousand dollars
Agent's commission paid by buyer	Yes, capped by Seoul: 0.4% for ₩600–900 million, 0.5% for ₩900 million–1.2 billion, 0.6% to ₩1.5 billion, 0.7% above [4]	Optional buyer's agent; the vendor pays the selling agent
Registration and other fees	Registration costs and a compulsory housing bond purchase at registration, usually sold back at a discount	Land registry fees of a few hundred dollars
Loan fees	Bank fees, plus mortgage registration costs	Application and valuation fees; lenders mortgage insurance above 80% LVR, if offered to expats

Korea's percentages look gentle until you own more than one home. The multi-home rates in Seoul can make a second purchase several times dearer than the first.

Getting a loan

In Seoul

Korea runs some of the tightest mortgage rules in the region. Under measures announced on 15 October 2025, the maximum LVR in Seoul's newly designated regulated areas fell to 40%, down from 70% [5]. On top of that, loan amounts in the Seoul metropolitan area are capped by price: ₩600 million for homes up to ₩1.5 billion, ₩400 million for ₩1.5–2.5 billion, and ₩200 million above that [5]. Banks also test your debt servicing at a higher stress rate [5].

Foreign residents with an alien registration card and Korean income can apply to Korean banks, but expect the same caps as locals and more paperwork. Most Australians end up putting in far more cash than they would back home.

Back home

Australian lenders will look at Korean income, but the won is a less familiar currency for many of them than the US dollar or the yen, so the pool of lenders willing to assess it is smaller. Where they do, expect part of your income to be discounted for currency risk and a lower maximum LVR than a local borrower gets. Our guide to how lenders assess foreign income covers the detail.

Holding costs

	Seoul	Australia (NSW example)
Annual property tax	Property tax (jaesanse) each year on the government's assessed value, which sits below market price	Council rates, set by each council
Extra wealth-style tax	Comprehensive real estate holding tax on higher-value holdings	NSW land tax on investment property once your land holdings pass the threshold; your own home is usually exempt
Building costs	Monthly management fees for apartment complexes	Strata levies for units
Renting it out	Effectively ruled out for two years by the permit's residence obligation [1]	Allowed; foreign residents pay Australian tax on rent from the first dollar

While you're an Australian tax resident, you declare your worldwide income in your Australian return, and can usually claim a foreign income tax offset for tax already paid overseas [8]. If you've become a foreign resident of Australia, Korean income generally drops out of the Australian system, but Australian rent doesn't.

Selling and tax

Korea

Korean capital gains on property are taxed at progressive rates of 6% to 45%, plus a 10% local income tax on top [6]. Owners of two or more homes in regulated areas pay a further 20 or 30 percentage points; a temporary suspension of that surcharge ended on 9 May 2026, taking the maximum to 82.5% [6]. Korea's well-known one-home exemption is designed for Korean tax residents, so get Korean tax advice before you sell, especially if you've already left.

Australia

Main residence exemption. If you're a foreign resident when you sell your Australian home, you generally can't claim the exemption, unless you meet the narrow life events test [9].
Withholding. Buyers must withhold 15% of the price on every sale since 1 January 2025 unless you hand over an ATO clearance certificate, which is only available to Australian residents [10].
Your Korean sale. While you're an Australian resident, the ATO may tax the gain on your Seoul flat too, with credit for Korean tax paid [8].

Currency risk

The won and the Aussie dollar don't move in lockstep. If you sell in Seoul and bring the money home, the exchange rate on settlement day can add or remove a meaningful chunk of your gain. Plan the transfer, don't just let it happen.

A worked example

Illustration only. About A$1 million in both places: a ₩940 million apartment in Seoul (about A$998,000) and a A$1,000,000 home in NSW. It's a first and only home in each case. Seoul prices vary hugely by district; the percentages scale with the price. Scrivener, bond and loan costs are left out.

Upfront cost	Seoul, first home	Seoul, second home in Seoul	NSW, Australian citizen abroad
Acquisition tax / transfer duty	3% = ₩28.2 million [3]	8% = ₩75.2 million [3]	A$39,187 [7]
Agent's commission (cap)	0.5% = ₩4.7 million [4]	0.5% = ₩4.7 million [4]	Nil without a buyer's agent
Total	₩32.9 million (about A$34,900)	₩79.9 million (about A$84,800)	About A$39,200

The NSW sum is A$11,602 plus 4.5% of A$613,000. The Seoul totals exclude the education and rural add-ons, which push the tax line up a little.

On a first home, Seoul comes in slightly cheaper than NSW. Own a home already, and Seoul jumps to more than double. And remember the bigger hurdle sits outside this table: with a 40% LVR, a ₩940 million flat needs around ₩564 million of your own cash, before costs [5].

Which suits whom

There's no universal answer. Weigh these:

Will you live in it? The permit rules mean Seoul only works if you'll occupy the home for at least two years [1].
How long you're staying. If your contract ends in 18 months, buying in Seoul is close to impossible to make work.
Cash on hand. Korean loan caps mean a large deposit. Australian lenders will lend more, but on expat terms.
The jeonse alternative. Many people in Seoul rent on a large lump-sum deposit instead of buying, which ties up capital in a different way.
Coming home. If Australia is the endgame, buying back home while you're overseas lets you lock in a property now, with the CGT and withholding traps above.
Estate planning. Assets in two countries mean two sets of inheritance rules; check your will covers both.

Swap notes with Australians who've done it in Cooee South Korea, our Facebook group for Australians in Korea.

Buying in Seoul vs back home: permits, taxes and loans compared