Housing Giants - December 10, 2008 - (Page 9) Viewpoint The pent-up demand from four years of underproduction will attract investors from all over the world. very, very quickly,” Philip Watson, head of Citi Private Bank investment analysis, told London’s Financial Times. “People can sense there are opportunities.” Citigroup hopes to capitalize on the surge of interest with its newly set up U.K. commercial property fund that aims to raise $150 million from high-net-worth individuals to invest over the next 18 months, said Watson. The Financial Times didn’t report how many billions of Middle Eastern money are heading for the U.S., but you know it’s happening. Savvy investors everywhere — including doctors and lawyers on Main Street — are going to jump at the opportunity to invest in U.S. home building once the first signs of a housing recovery begin to appear. It’s going to be tougher this time for the U.S. housing industry to perform its traditional role of leading the economy out of a recession because of the collapse of the country’s housing finance apparatus. But eventually, we’ll solve that problem, and the pent-up demand from four years of underproduction will attract investors from all over the world to builders who are able to get this show on the road again. The time will come when even the banks decide they can’t afford to be left out. But for the next three to five years, equity investors will be our primary source of capital. HG www.Housinggiants.com 12.10.08.Housing giants http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1f16e408-b125-11dd-8915-0000779fd18c.html http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1f16e408-b125-11dd-8915-0000779fd18c.html http://www.housinggiants.com
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