Purchases of overseas real estate by South Koreans jumped nearly one-third in April from March after the government further eased regulations earlier this year, finance ministry data showed yesterday.
South Koreans purchased US$129 million worth of real estate in April for residential or investment purposes in countries including the United States, Canada, Singapore and Malaysia, up 32 per cent from US$98 million in March, the ministry said.
For the first four months of this year, South Koreans bought US$355 million in overseas real estate, more than double the US$157 million they spent in the first six months of last year, it said. The ministry did not break down 2006 figures by month.
South Korea started easing restrictions on real estate purchases abroad early last year as part of its efforts to remove administrative regulations on capital transactions and partly to help take the appreciation pressure off the won.
It further eased regulations in February by raising the ceiling on overseas real estate purchases for investment up to US$3 million per case from US$1 million.
Source: The Business Times, 15 May 2007
