By Jane HanStaff Reporter
Whether you're Indian, German or Thai, at Hannam Supermarket, it's not a challenge trying to shop for a dish from back home. The overwhelming variety of foreign labels and rare ingredients available at this popular neighborhood store tells something about who lives in the area.
''More than 60 percent of our regular customers are foreigners,'' said Chang Jae-chul, the shop owner, who testifies that Hannam-dong ''is really a mini globe'' with residents from all over the world.
He's right. The southern Seoul town is home to almost 2,500 foreigners, according to realtors' estimates. And many of them reside in the luxurious, highly guarded villas that easily cost above 5 to 6 million won ($3,300-$4,000) per month.
Park Sang-moon, president of Nice Rent, a property agency that specializes in leasing for foreigners, says Hannam-dong residents are largely business executives and diplomats, including some from Spain, Kuwait, Argentina and Brazil.
The town has a long history of being their favorite because of its convenient location, a wide range of available amenities, nearby foreign schools, subdued atmosphere and villa-type homes, says area brokers.
These are also reasons why people like Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee and LG Chairman Koo Bon-moo have picked Hannam-dong as home.
''Foreign residents have a close-knit community, so that seems to be one of the assets that accounts for the high rental prices,'' said Park, adding that this is also why they choose to rent pricier villas than area apartments like Hyundai Hometown and Richensia.
According to recent data, a three-bedroom villa sized around 200 sq. meter averages from 6 million won to 9 million won, with utilities and maintenance fees costing up to 1.2 million won per month. These include properties inside U.N. Village.
Kim Ok-ja, another area realtor, says these prices remained steady for the past four to five years.
''Some properties may have lost some value due to ageing, but the overall market downturn hasn't affected foreign rental prices significantly,'' she explained, adding that foreigners account for 70 percent of residency in homes specifically built to lease.
She said that Korean owners prefer lending to foreigners because monthly rents give them better returns than ''chonse,'' they rarely cause damage to homes and follow through with their contract terms.
Chonse is a unique rental system in Korea, in which a large deposit is left with the owner for typically two years and returned at the end of the contract period.
So how much would these luxury homes be for purchase?
Realtors say they start around 1 billion won and can go up as ''high as the sky.'' According to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, Samsung Chairman Lee's Hannam-dong home is the most expensive in the country, priced at 9.59 billion won.
jhan@koreatimes.co.kr