Foreign investors in real estate expect to spend significantly more around the world, particularly in the U.S., in 2009 than they did in 2008. These are the findings of the 17th annual survey by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE) conducted by the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at the Wisconsin School of Business.

“Despite the recent turmoil in the U.S. economy, the appetite for U.S. real estate investment remains: Foreign investors continue to consider the U.S. as providing the best opportunities for capital appreciation and they report that finding U.S. real estate investment opportunities is much easier now than it has been in a long time,” says François Ortalo-Magné, Robert E. Wangard Chair in Real Estate at the Wisconsin School of Business. “A number of foreign investors sat 2008 out, but they are ready to move in aggressively in 2009 —particularly on the debt markets. And this is exactly what the commercial real estate markets need!”

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