Real Estate Investing: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

This paper discusses the main ways of gaining exposure to real estate, with their
associated advantages and drawbacks. We also present figures on the market size of
the various types of exposure. We consider direct investments, listed investments,
open-ended real estate funds and private equity real estate investments. Our discussion should help investors in deciding whether real estate should be considered
as an investment alternative and if so, what the best way of entering the market is.