REAL ESTATE : Non-Japanese Asian Investors Entering the Housing Market

After being badly burned in the real estate downturn, many Japanese investors are pulling out of the U.S. real estate market. But in Orange County, at least, other Asian investors are entering the market, investing mostly in housing projects, according to Mike Meyer, managing partner of the Newport Beach office of Kenneth Leventhal & Co., the accounting firm. In 1990, Japanese companies had invested about $656 million in Orange County. There were no new investments in 1992, however, and nothing last year either.

But now investors from Taiwan, South Korea and other parts of Asia are showing up. A wealthy Hong Kong investor is actively purchasing residential housing lots in the county, Meyer said.

“We have met with some of these other Asian investors, and they are seeking mainly joint venture opportunities in residential projects in Orange County and the Inland Empire,” Meyer said.

Orange County will see more non-Japanese Asian real estate investors, he said. They “are anxious to purchase residential lots at the bottom of the cycle and watch the value increase as the local housing market improves.”

Kenneth Leventhal released a study this week showing that the Japanese are trying to sell or lower their debt in U.S. real estate.