<Anchor> In
the United States, where the corona crisis is calming, house prices are soaring to the highest level in 15 years. In order to prevent this kind of overheating of real estate, there are voices calling for the US to reduce the amount of money that has been released in the meantime, and the prospect that it will affect Korea continues.
Correspondent Kim Jong-won, New York.
<Reporter> A
300-square-meter detached house in northern New Jersey, people flocked to buy the house as soon as it was on sale.
[Ann Lee / Realtor: I once had an open house (while looking around the house). We played for about 3 hours a day, and then 30 teams came. I really didn't have time to sit down.] It
ended up selling for about 20% more than the $700,000 the landlord offered.
The number of people looking for single-family homes has increased significantly since Corona, but the supply is not keeping up with the demand.
Another reason home prices are rising in the United States is the rise in commodity prices due to inflation.
Right now, there is a construction site that has been demolished to build a new house. Even while the house is being built, the price of raw materials continues to rise, so house prices are rising in real time.
One reason is that interest rates on mortgages are at an all-time low as interest rates remain at zero for a while.
[Charles Offler/Chairman of the National Association of Realtors: The biggest reason for the rise in house prices is the low interest rates. When the interest rate is as low as 2.5% to 3.5% as it is now, more people want to buy a house.]
[Jeff Lee / Realtor: There are many things that have risen about 20% in one year. It's not surprising that
prices rise by
15-20%.] The
White House also expressed concern about soaring house prices.
[Zen Saki / White House Spokesperson (26th of last month): There is a growing concern that it may not be possible to buy a house at a reasonable price due to the recent increase in house prices. This is affecting many Americans.] The
central bank, the Federal Reserve, is arguing that the government should cut back on asset purchases to reduce the amount of money released into the market, so-called 'tapering'.
If tapering is implemented as the previous stage of an interest rate hike, fluctuations in the stock market or bonds may occur, so there is a high probability that the global economy, including Korea, will be affected.
As there are signs that the US may enter a phase of austerity sooner than expected, the need for us to prepare is growing.
(Video coverage: Lee Sang-wook, video editing: Kim Jin-won)