OfflineReal estate got us into this mess in the first place. Will it also get us out?
Given how hard it is to predict anything related to the economy, is now a good time to invest in real estate? That's a topic that Foolish retirement expert Robert Brokamp picks up in this month's issue of Rule Your Retirement. In looking back at the history of real estate investing, he notes that while REITs have had extremely high valuations for years, the combination of low share prices and high yields now make them look more attractive than they have in a long time.
But that's not to say they don't face big challenges. Ailing retailers like Circuit City and Sharper Image were mainstays across the country, and when they go belly-up, it's tough to find anyone to take over their space at your local mall. And anytime you see a Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) location close its doors, there are investors who have suddenly lost a valuable stream of income they were relying on.
This article is found at: http://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2009/02/09/will-real-estate-lead-...
I struggle with the idea frequently posed by Stock Pushers who suggest that the real estate market was the cause of our crisis. The cause was greed stemming primarily from Wall Street as they created new ways for borrowers to make them money. As Wall Street progressed down the slippery slope a monster created out of greed developed a life of its own.
Real Estate is 1/3 of our economy and it could not by itself create nor destroy itself. Yet, by itself we see that we are hurting as a result of greed on Wall Street and in the private arena.
The housing market is likely to lead the Australian economy out of recession with the business sector set to remain depressed for the rest of this year, Westpac's chief executive Gail Kelly said today.
As rising bad debts are now spreading to small and medium-sized companies, Westpac has forecast that lending to businesses will show little or no growth for the next six months and may actually go backwards given the economic downturn.
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