外國人들의 國內不動産 投資活動에 관한 硏究

외국인의 국내 부동산 투자활동을 연구했다.

The government called for a US 19.5 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue package immediately after the financial crisis occurred early in November, 1997. The IMF subsequently disbursed the requested funds to Korea on the condition that the Korean government push ahead with high-profile restructuring under extremely difficult economic circumstances. As the Korean economy became increasingly market-driven, it continued to gain momentum. While a modest portion of the public holdings were transferred to the private sector, the ongoing volatility of the real estate market made it resistant to the market principles applied to other economic sectors.

As can be observed of the hectic U.S. real estate investment of the 1980s, however, it was not possible for the Korean real estate market to avoid the liberalization made necessary by a globalization process that continues to blur national borders. The resulting changes in the Korean real estate market can be described as follows: Real estate loans are now based on profitability and feasibility assessments. A real estate system paradigm shift, including services and practices, is in the works. The real estate market has been divided into residential and commercial-purpose markets.

Real estate financial products are now more common than the pursuit of marginal profits based on real estate holdings. Such changes in real estate investment patterns are intended to mirror the increase in profit for additional risk expectation that accompanies stock market investments. In the past, the immovable investments were characterized by the pursuit of profit derived from the sale of property after it has been held for several years. This was due in large measure to strict regulation and hefty capital gains taxes. New investment patterns have emerged recently, however, including day trading and indirect sales, which were previously only available for stock market investors.

These substantive changes in the real estate market are a result of the new real estate system, which includes the liberalization of the resale of newly-built housing ownership, real estate market stimulation policies, and real estate investment diversification (e.g. REITs), and so on. These changes suggest that a wider array of real estate financial services is to gradually settle in the market. Both domestic real estate market conditions and foreign investment played a pivotal role in these changes.

To overcome the financial crisis the central and local governments adhered to IMF guidelines and worked together with the private sector to promote foreign investment in domestic real estate offerings. Even though laws and regulations were also revised, foreign investors were still reluctant to invest in Korean real estate. As ailing companies were restructured and real estate prices fell, foreign-invested real estate enterprises and consultants became available to provide investor services for foreigners. Now that foreign real estate investors such as Lone Star Korea, Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, Lodamco Asia, Morgan Stanley, and Goldmax Industries Inc.

are fairly common, in Korea, investigating the impact they have had on the domestic real estate market is a timely proposition.