The Rush for 'Smart Investments' in Seoul... Dried Up 'Expedition Investment'

[Financial News] The expedition investment in apartments outside the metropolitan area by Seoul residents is disappearing.
On the 28th, Financial News analyzed data from Korea Real Estate Board, commissioned by Real Estate R114, and found that the proportion fell to the early 2% range from January to May this year. This is the lowest figure since 2020.
Specifically, from January to May this year, Seoul residents purchased 2,588 apartments outside the metropolitan area. This accounted for only 2.3% of the total apartment transactions (114,786 cases) in that period. Only about 2 out of 100 apartment transactions outside the metropolitan area were purchased by Seoul residents until May this year.
The proportion of Seoul residents purchasing apartments outside the metropolitan area from January to May this year is the lowest since 2020 when house prices soared. The proportion of Seoul residents in total transactions outside the metropolitan area was 3.2% in 2020 and rose to 5.0% in 2021. There was even a boom in expedition investment in 2021.
However, it continued to decline to 4.5% in 2022, 2.5% in 2023, 2.4% in 2024, and 2.3% in 2025.
From 2020 to May this year, the proportion of Seoul residents purchasing apartments outside the metropolitan area (excluding the metropolitan area) was only 3.5%. During this period, the total number of apartment transactions outside the metropolitan area was 1,726,839 cases. Among them, only 59,726 cases were purchased by Seoul residents. Only 3 out of 100 apartments purchased outside the metropolitan area were bought by Seoul residents.


Looking at the number of apartment purchases outside the metropolitan area by Seoul residents over the past 5 years (2020~May 2025) by region, it is not an exaggeration to say that expedition investment has dried up in some areas.
During this period, the only place where Seoul residents purchased more than 10,000 apartments outside the metropolitan area was Gangwon (10,840 cases). Other regions recorded less than 10,000 cases.
Specifically, there were 4,376 cases in Busan, 2,391 in Daejeon, 2,036 in Daegu, and 1,475 in Sejong. Particularly in Jeju, the number of apartment purchases by Seoul residents was only 834 cases over the past 5 years.
Meanwhile, housing and construction organizations have previously suggested to the political circle before the presidential election to ease regulations on multiple homeowners. This is due to concerns that regulations on multiple homeowners are intensifying the phenomenon of 'smart investments' in Seoul.
For example, in our country, multiple homeowners with two or more houses face heavy taxation throughout the real estate life cycle, including acquisition tax at the time of purchase, comprehensive real estate tax during ownership, and capital gains tax at the time of sale. A representative from an association said, "Ultimately, the proposal to ease regulations on multiple homeowners during the presidential election has become 'nothing happened,' and there is concern that the new government might tighten restrictions on multiple homeowners even more."




ljb@fnnews.com Lee Jong-bae Reporter