Growth, Investing, and a New Trend

Emerging Markets - Retail markets are one way to identify the spending habits of emerging countries.  This year focus seems to be on South America, home to the top three emerging retail markets according to cnbc.  The Middle East also continues to show steady retail growth.  China, however, dropped from first place in 2010 to sixth place in the current study.  Brazil tops the list with a surge of investment dollars flooding the country.  Many site the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics as the attention grabbers that are expected to generate 50 billion dollars alone for the country.  Uruguay and Chile round out the second and third positions respectively with each country having a GDP per capita of over $14,000.  As investors seek out places to invest and diversify their portfolio, these countries are worth a closer look.

Investing Trends - Predicting trends in enterprise is often more a wish list than a telling of the future.  It does, however, offer insight in to potential investment opportunities.  Here is a look at some of the top 10 as seen by editors of the Dick Davis Investment Digest:  1. Communication Technology - from mobile phones to tablet computing, this continues to be an area to watch for growth.  2. Oil, Gas, Coal - the need for fossil based fuel sources continues to be in high demand.  3. Food & Agriculture  4. Consumer/Retail   5. Gold   6. Other Metals   7. Green - alternative energy sources and the technology associated with them are entering everything from transportation to housing.  8. Banking & Finance  9. Inflation - while many still claim it is not coming, most see it as a necessity to right our ecnomic troubles.  10. Return to "Fair Value" - as the market recovers everything from stock to real estate should settle into fair value pricing.

Fourth Sector - Often refered to as For-Benefit, the fourth sector is illustration of the blending of private, public, and social lines.  These orgaizations are taking government, business, and non-profit sectors to form a fourth sector that has both profit and purpose agendas.  From micro financing to environmental initiatives, these organizatoins may help meet a growing trend of concern for both social and financial considerations.

Being aware of real estate from a global perspecitve is essential in today's world.  What is going on in other countries - both positive and negative - has an impact on our economy and therefore the real estate market.  The emergence of concepts like For-Benefit organizations shows the dynamic nature of enterprise which can translate into real estate opportunities for the professionals who are up to date on trends and concerns of these new entities.