South Koreans Investing Heavily In U.S. Real Estate

As the market for homes softens in some U.S. cities, and predictions of slower price appreciation abound, the number of South Korean investors purchasing homes in the U.S. has risen dramatically.

Following the South Korean government's decision to lifted the cap on purchases of overseas real estate for residential purposes to $1 million, many Koreans have rushed maximize their returns and take advantage of the favorable exchange rate by investing in real estate.

""In the eyes of many Koreans, America is the safest place to invest," says Ahn Sang Moh, an agent at New Star Realty & Management in New York, a Korean-American real-estate firm with clients in Korea.

Although there are no data for residential real estate specifically, Korean direct investment in North America in the first three months of this year was more than $570 million, nearly half the $1.27 billion total for all of last year, according to the Bank of Korea."