不動産投資信託(REITs)制度의 導入方案에 관한 硏究

국내 부동산투자신탁(REITs) 제도의 도입 방안을 연구했다.

Recently, Korea is under the surveillance of IMF and experiencing unprecedanted economic depression bcause of its faulty economic structure that cuased economic meltdown. As a result, Korea is adjusting itself to global standard by drawing up more internationally freindly laws and regulations. Above all, there is expectation that Korea's money market would be the most affected and revolutionized. Under the guidance of IMF, Korea has survived the foreign currency crises, and to revive the depressed economy, Korea's real estate market has been urgently targeted to adjust to the global standard by creating attractive real estate deals and developing new real estate products.

This means the real estate market no longer can survive in the old way but has to be more open and public, and the new real estate regulations are urgently necessary to support such an intent. The real estate investment conduit should be nurtured and made a practical application to reduce the transactions cost of the real eatate and cut the tax. Generally investing in real estate required a large capital input by a few people. And because of each property's unique location, usage, and structure, there required spcialized knowledge in requiring and managing it.

As a result, an average citizen with the lack of capital and knowledge to invest in real estate was left out from the real estate market. And this has one of the major reason that hindered the real estate investment growth. Accepting the major role of nation's economy that the real estate plays, there must be stimulations to make real estate investment more active and attractive. As this point of view, an indirect investment method, REITs (Real Esate Investment Trusts), that can be one of alternatives to invest in real estate deals. REITs basically gathers the fund from many small investors and invests it in real estate deals that small investors, other wise, have no opportunities to do so.

As result, the real estate market becomes more active and helps the nation's economy to be more vital. Viewing REITs from the ecnomy stability point of view, REITs accelerates the unification of the real estate market and the money market and achieves the globality of the nation's real estate market. With REITs, the real estate investment market changes to the form of the security investment, thus making the real estate more liquidiable and profitable with higher stability. Furthermore, making the real estate investment record open to public helps increase the nation's real estate market more globally competitive even greater.

Making the real estate a part of the money market allows continuous evaluation in real estate and prevents speculative investing in real estate. Another positive output is more equal distribution of real estate market. In other words, once untouchable large real estate investements by public can now be reachable; once private real estate market becomes public. The real esate investment will be democratized and publicized. REITs is a revolutionary real estate investement system to Korea. REITs allows better management of the existing fund, and it is an advanced fund management system for the real estate market.

REITs distributes the risk that once held by one real estate investment institution to many individuals, thus it reduces the risk of volitile interate rate and the possibility of early disposal of real esate owned. As result, the benefit of reducing the risk in real estate investment goes right to the mortgagor, the mortgagee, and the investor. REITs does not guarantee short-term success but helps prepare the nation to conform to the global standard that plays by the cut-throat rule driven by the market. REITs, furthermore, helps spread the wealth making the economy more for the people.

As result, REITs plays the vital role to revive the sunken economy for the short-term as well for the long-term. Even if REITs becomes a reality, the profit must be guaranteed for it to survive and work. No matter how creative financing is out there, if the deal is not profitable, REITs can not succeed. With this point of view in Korea, there isn't a real estate management know-how or operating method that can maximize the profitability. Furthermore, the financial market or the tax regulation does not support the real estate income maximization. Thus, there is the need for the protective devices in finance and regulation for the real estate profit maximization.

In the laissez-faire system, the fund flows to the highest profit making products. This means, the real estate must provide equal profit potential for the investors to make REITs successful. In other words, for REITs to be successful, there must be favorable real estate investment regulations in tax, management,and investment, e.g. abolition of double-profit taxation. So, there has to be a through research in the polices that would provide information, insurance, and appraisal regulations. As conclusion, REITs should be successfully established and managed to help overcome the harsh economy under the IMF surveillance.

And REITs should modify the economic structure in the favor of active real estate market, and REITs should conform Koera's real estate market to the advanced nation's real estate model. This study hopes to make the appeal to recognize REITs as the future real estate investment formation in Korea and to modify current the Korean tax law in the favor of REITs.