SEOUL, KOREA - This year to date, the volume of investment in U.S. real estate properties by Korean investors has been US$1.83 billion, second highest among Asian countries after Singapore which invested $1.87 billion. According to a story "Asian Investors Dig into U.S. Property" on the Wall Street Journal on June 26, the real estate investment made this year by Korean pension funds and asset management firms has been $1.83 billion, citing data from Real Capital Analytics.

 

Korea's institutional investors bought U.S. real estate properties worth $1.4 billion in 2011, followed by $1.0 billion last year. The largest Asian investor in the U.S. real estate market was Singapore with $1.87 billion, with China positioned at a third place with $1.52 billion.

 

Investors from these countries included on their shopping lists a Hawaiian resort, an office tower on Chicago's swank West Wacker Drive, and New York condo developments, the Wall Street Journal report said.

 

"There is less pressure on these investors to chase yield. They are looking to invest for the next generation, not just for a few years like private equity funds," says Howard Roth, head of global real estate for Ernst & Young.