By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
New York City, a super-real estate market that seemed immune to any outside economic threats, has lately been spotted with more vulnerability. But this is actually signaling South Korean investors to return to the Big Apple.
``We're seeing a comeback of investors who want in at Manhattan, once again,'' said Kim Joon-sung, a Seoul-based senior consultant at Map Realty, a real estate consultancy specializing in overseas investment.
He said experts usually don't refer to Manhattan as part of the United States because of its unique growth isolated from the overall market trend.
``It's always going up and it will probably continue its hike with the exception of a few minor cracks along the way,'' said Kim. ``In that sense, the recent shakiness is an opportunity to step in the game at a better deal.''
The New York Times Sunday cited data by Standard & Poor's that the city's property values fell 4.7 percent during the 12 months ending in November.
It added that some analysts are raising concerns that the decline may be an introduction to a ``severe downturn in the region during the recession that followed the boom year of the late 1980s.''
However, real estate experts in Seoul brushed off these concerns, fronting a good dollar exchange rate and slight dip in prices as the green light.
``Investors can benefit 10 to 15 percent just from the weak dollar'' said Lim Chae-kwang of Rootiz, another firm specializing in overseas real estate investment in Seoul, adding that condominiums, which are most popular among Korean buyers, rarely see a fall in value.
He said that U.S. property purchases have sharply declined since last year, but investors, who have a solid wealth base and long-term investment plans, are returning with more inquiries.
Moon Young-joo, a Manhanttan-based property sales director of New York Residence, said he's been getting more information requests from potential buyers from Korea this year.
Cities like Los Angeles that used to have a healthy property market carries risks, he said, but New York is a different story.
``The recent concerns are too weak to hinder the city's longstanding strength,'' he said. ``But the fall is symbolic in that the economic woes are serious enough to hurt Manhattan.''