I attended the Realtors Commercial Alliance’s Super Conference today and wanted to share some of the things I heard that may help you decide whether or not now is the time to invest in real estate.
Dr. Randy Anderson, the Howard Phillips Eminent Scholar Chair at the University of Central Florida:
- pointed out that no other asset class did better on growth of a $10,000 investment between 1996-2010 than direct real estate;
- retail sales are higher than before we entered the recession despite low consumer confidence, mostly due to pent up demand. He believes retail sales will start to level off and stabilize.
- Most buyers underestimate the cost of owning an office space because they base their projections on a 5-10% vacancy when nationally it is closer to 12-14%
- Big institutional investors have been purchasing Miami real estate for the last year.
- Each 1% decline in homeownership is equal to 1.2 million rental households
Dr. Pascal Goldschmidt, Senior V.P. Medical Affairs and Dean of UM Miller School of Medicine:
- stated that every great city has a great educational hospital
- projects that when UM’s Life Sciences Center is built out over the next 7 years, there will be 10,000-15,000 new jobs with an average salary of $65,000-$75,000.
- Miami Dade College is working to train people who live in the area, which is next to Jackson Hospital, to work in various aspects of the medical/health field.
- Envisions a live work area around Life Science Park.
Jeffrey Bercow, attorney with Bercow Radell & Fernandez, P.A.
- believes that Miami-Dade County is under-retailed when compared with Broward and West Palm Beach
If owning the physical real estate does not interest you, consider investing in a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) such as Duke Realty or Healthcare Realty.