Japanese investors take long-range view. (investments by Japanese companies in American real estate)(Focus on Construction)

Japanese investors take long-range view

Clearly the 1980s were a decade of unprecedented investment by Japanese companies in American real estate. Thanks to a yen that almost doubled in value against the dollar, and an annual $90 billion balance of payments surplus, Japanese investment in U.S. real estate grew to an all-time high of $16.5 billion in 1988. The Pacific Rim accounted for nearly 70 percent of Japanese investment in hotel and resort properties, and Hawaii led all states with 28 percent or $1.06 billion of that investment in 1990.

However, the 1990s have brought a new set of economic dynamics that has raised doubts about the future of Pacific resort …