Morningstar Advisor - Winter 2008 - (Page 12) Ten Questions Real Estate Investing Goes Global Commercial real estate investors in the U.S. had a volatile 2007: The residential housing market melted down, credit tightened, and the problems bled through despite the commercial market’s still-strong fundamentals. When faced with these conditions, investors invariably seek diversification to ease some of the market’s risk, and the increased popularity of the REIT structure around the globe proved to be serendipitous. Asian-listed real estate resisted the global downward trend, and the reach of REITs grew significantly. In Europe, REITs exploded in number despite lackluster performance: the U.K. and Germany introduced REITs in 2007, and while they took a beating, a majority of the U.K.’s major property companies have converted into investment trusts. We found a trio of real estate experts at the 2007 Schwab Impact conference in Las Vegas and got their takes on the market and other issues for our Ten Questions. What got you interested in real estate? What were some early challenges? Who is your biggest investing influence? What percentage of a typical investor’s asset allocation should be in commercial real estate? REITs have cooled a bit over the past year. Is the party over for a while? What is the biggest challenge facing REIT investors today? Which property types are offering the best values today? Which regions? If you hadn’t made a career in real estate, what would you be doing? If you could retire anywhere right now, where would you go? For video of our 10 Questions panel, go to: http://www.MorningstarAdvisor.com/video 12 Morningstar Advisor Winter 2008 http://www.MorningstarAdvisor.com/video
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