Farmland Liquidity Under a Tightened Ownership Regime: Urban–Rural Heterogeneity in South Korea

ABSTRACT In real estate markets featuring substantial search friction and strong seller loss aversion, external shocks that shift buyer valuations are largely reflected in liquidity fluctuations, while price adjustments tend to be rigid. This study examines market liquidity shifts following the tightening of South Korean farmland ownership regulations, utilizing the 2021 Farmland Act amendment and nationwide parcel‐level transaction data (2013−2023). We estimate the relationships between land liquidity, policy change, and key macro variables (i.e. interest rates) using a monthly county fixed‐effects model. We find that the amendment is significantly associated with a 10%−11% reduction in nationwide market liquidity, as measured by the turnover rate. This negative relationship is geographically heterogeneous, being more pronounced in rural areas while statistically insignificant in investment‐driven urban areas. Furthermore, our decomposition analysis reveals that the post‐enforcement drop in observed market liquidity is mostly associated with rising interest rates. The role of interest rates is more dominant in urbanized areas than rural ones, reflecting the higher concentration of investment‐driven buyers and substantial capital requirements for land acquisition in these regions. Our findings demonstrate that the market response to ownership regulation is strongly mediated by local market conditions, highlighting the challenges of enforcing stringent policies in areas with high investment potential.