By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Yoo Mi-rae says her three-bedroom condo in downtown Los Angeles looked better in June when it fared easily above $550,000. Her new second home an ocean away isn't looking so great four months later, with its value down nearly 5 percent already.
The price decline was expected, she says, as her property consultants advised her before the purchase. But what worries her is how steep and how long the drop will go in the U.S. market that has yet to bottom out.
Yoo, who spoke to The Korea Times before the purchase this summer, indicated then that she was buying the condo as a five-year investment for her son starting college in California.
``I didn't want him to throw money away on rent,'' she says, ``but now I'm thinking that maybe waiting it out would've been a smarter choice.''
J.P. Morgan Chase said last month that California home prices could fall as much as 58 percent if the U.S. enters a severe recession. Other experts said the U.S. housing market is still far from hitting the bottom. And even when there is a rebound, they say the comeback will be sluggish.
Lim Chae-kwang, an agent at a Seoul-based brokerage specializing in overseas properties, says investors who made purchases without knowing the depth of the financial problem are being kept on their toes due the endless fall.
``Long-term investors should be fine, but those looking to sell homes in the U.S. within five years might come home with a loss,'' said Lim, who said property values have dropped at least 20 percent over the past year there.
Those who can't take the anxiety should sell now and convert their dollars into won now when the greenback is strong, he advised, stressing that this may be a golden chance. The Korean won closed at 1,315 won to the dollar, Monday.
Lim said the weak won and the slumping U.S. market have chased away Korean investors, cutting back overseas real estate transactions by nearly half in August from a month earlier.
The number of monthly purchases fell from 185 in June and 154 in July to 89 in August, the first time monthly acquisitions fell below 100 since last year.
``We used to get about 30 calls a day, but now we get 15 at most,'' he said, explaining that investor confidence will remain weak until popular states like California and Florida start to recover.
The hard-hit Pacific region has seen the steepest drop in the country, with California home prices tumbling a record 41 percent in August from a year earlier.
jhan@koreatimes.co.kr
|
경찰, 이태원 등 외국인 밀집지역 특별관리
