Buying in Seoul vs the US: costs and taxes

You can still buy an apartment in Seoul as an American. Since August 2025 you need a permit first, and you have to live in it.

The short version

Foreigners need prior approval to buy a home anywhere in Seoul. The permit zone runs through August 25, 2027, and approved buyers generally must move in within four months and live there for two years [1].
Purchase taxes are modest for a single home: acquisition tax of 1% to 3% depending on price, plus surtaxes [2][3]. Owning more homes in Korea raises it sharply.
Korean banks rarely lend to short-stay foreigners, so many Americans buy with cash or money from home.
Korea taxes the gain when you sell, and a resident with one home can be exempt on a sale up to KRW 1.2 billion [4].
The IRS taxes your worldwide gain too, in dollars, with Section 121 and the foreign tax credit to soften it [5][6].

USD conversions use the Federal Reserve H.10 rate of October 30, 2026 (KRW 1,333.99 per US dollar), rounded.

Can Americans buy in Seoul?

For years the answer was "yes, just report it." Foreigners have long been able to own both buildings and land in Korea, with a report to the local government after the contract. That changed in August 2025, when the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport made all of Seoul, most of Gyeonggi Province and nine Incheon districts a land transaction permit zone for foreign buyers of homes. In August 2026 it extended the zone for another year, to August 25, 2027 [1].

What the permit means in practice:

Approval before you buy. You apply to the district office (gu) before the deal closes and disclose your funding source, visa status and what you'll use the home for [1].
Move in, and stay. Approved buyers generally must move in within four months and live in the home for at least two years [1]. Buying an apartment in Mapo to rent out while you live in Busan doesn't fit.
Scrutiny of the money. The ministry has said it will act on abnormal or speculative deals with other agencies [1]. Keep clean records of where your down payment came from, which you'll want for the IRS anyway.

Who's outside the rule matters. Reports say Korean permanent residents (F-5) and people who've restored Korean nationality are treated differently from other foreign buyers, but check your status with the district office before you sign. If you're a Korean-American with a Korean spouse buying jointly, ask how the permit applies to each name on the title.

Getting a loan: Korean bank or US lender?

In Seoul. Korea tightened household lending in 2025, and foreigners face the same caps as Koreans plus the practical hurdles of a short visa, foreign income and a thin Korean credit file. Lending to foreigners is limited and usually goes to long-term residents with Korean salaries. Expect a large down payment if a bank says yes at all. Our guide to banking in South Korea as an American covers the account you'll need first.

Back home. Many Americans pay cash, often from US savings or by borrowing against a home stateside. Qualifying for a US loan while you earn won takes some work; see US mortgages for Americans living abroad.

The currency trap. The IRS measures a won loan in dollars. If the won weakens while you owe it and you then pay it off, you can owe US tax on a currency gain even though you repaid exactly what you borrowed, and a loss on a personal home loan usually isn't deductible. Our guide to currency gains on a foreign mortgage walks through it.

One more Seoul quirk: jeonse. Many Korean owners buy with a tenant's huge lump-sum deposit as part of the financing. As an approved foreign buyer who must live in the home, that route is mostly closed to you. Our guide to jeonse and wolse explains the system from the renter's side.

Costs side by side

Rates as of November 2026.

	Seoul	Los Angeles (the US example)
Can you buy?	Yes, with a foreign-buyer permit; must live in it [1]	Yes, no approval
Purchase taxes	Acquisition tax 1% up to KRW 600 million, sliding to 3% above KRW 900 million, plus local education and rural surtaxes; heavier rates for multi-home owners [2][3]	County and city documentary transfer taxes, usually paid by the seller; a city "mansion tax" on high-value sales
Agent fees	Brokerage commission capped by law as a percentage that falls as price rises; paid by buyer and seller	Customarily paid by the seller
Closing professionals	Licensed broker and often a judicial scrivener for registration	Escrow company, title insurance, recording fees
Annual property tax	Property tax 0.1% to 0.4% of the assessed tax base plus local education tax; comprehensive real estate tax on high-value holdings [2]	Proposition 13 caps the base rate and yearly increases in assessed value; local add-ons on top
Tax on selling	Progressive capital gains tax plus 10% local income tax; one-home residents exempt up to KRW 1.2 billion [2][4]	Federal and California income tax after Section 121
US tax on the gain	Yes, worldwide, in dollars [5]	Yes; Section 121 if you pass 2 of 5 years [5]

Illustration only. A KRW 1 billion apartment in Seoul (about USD 750,000) sits in the 3% acquisition tax band, so the base tax is about KRW 30 million (about USD 22,500) before surtaxes [3]. In Los Angeles the buyer of a similar-priced condo usually pays little transfer tax, because the seller customarily covers it, but the yearly property tax bill runs higher than Seoul's.

Tax when you sell

The Korean side

Korea taxes a home sale as transfer income. Rates depend on how long you've held it: sales within the first two years face steep fixed rates, and after two years the ordinary progressive capital gains rates apply, plus local income tax of 10% of that tax [2]. A long-term holding deduction can cut the taxable gain further.

The big break is for a household that owns one home: the gain is exempt when the sale price is KRW 1.2 billion (about USD 900,000) or less, and only the part above that is taxed [4]. The exemption has holding conditions, and in some Seoul areas a residence condition too. It's built for Korean tax residents. If you sell after you've moved back stateside, you're a non-resident and the treatment can be very different, so time a sale carefully. Our guide to South Korean taxes for Americans explains residency.

The US side

Uncle Sam taxes your worldwide gain, measured in dollars:

Section 121 can cover a Seoul home. Own it and live in it for at least 24 months of the 5 years before the sale, and up to USD 250,000 of gain (USD 500,000 for most joint filers) is excluded. You generally can't use it again within two years [5]. The two-year Korean occupancy rule and the US use test line up nicely.
The won moves the math. A gain in won can shrink or grow once the IRS converts purchase and sale prices to dollars at the rates on each date.
The foreign tax credit. Korean capital gains tax and local income tax go on Form 1116 against US tax on the same gain. Acquisition tax and property tax aren't income taxes and don't qualify [6].
Depreciation recapture. If you rented it out at some point, gain from depreciation after May 6, 1997 can't be excluded [7].

Your old home in Los Angeles

The 2-of-5-years clock keeps ticking after you move. Stay away more than three years and the exclusion on a home in LA is usually gone, and California can still tax the gain on California property while you live in Seoul. Our guide to selling your US home after moving abroad covers the timing.

Renting it out

The Korean side. The permit's occupancy rule makes renting out a newly bought Seoul home a non-starter for at least two years. After that, rent is taxable in Korea, and owning a second home in Korea triggers heavier acquisition, holding and sale taxes. Leave Korea and keep renting it out, and you'll be a non-resident landlord with Korean filings of your own.

The US side. Report the rent on Schedule E. A Seoul apartment is used predominantly outside the United States, so you must depreciate the building under the Alternative Depreciation System (ADS) over 30 years, not the 27.5 years an LA rental gets [8][9]. Korean tax on the rent can be credited on Form 1116 [6].

If your rental is the place back in LA, see rental income from a US property.

Which makes sense for whom

Staying long term. Seoul can work, especially with a Korean salary or F-5 status. Live in it, keep it as your only Korean home, and the Korean one-home exemption and Section 121 can both apply to an ordinary gain.
Retiring in Korea. Possible with cash, but plan the estate: Korea has an inheritance tax and the US taxes your estate too. See wills and estate planning across two countries.
Moving back in a few years. Renting is usually the no-brainer. The permit ties you to the home for two years, a sale as a non-resident loses the best Korean breaks, and the won can swing.
Buying to rent out. Hard right now. The permit zone is built to stop exactly that.

A US expat tax preparer (or a Korean tax accountant) can check your situation before you sign. Swap notes with other buyers in our community group for Americans in South Korea at /join/.

Buying in Seoul vs back home: permits, taxes and Uncle Sam