Real Estate Investors Wary But Still Investing

High-income households ready to invest even though they expect little jump in real estate values next year.
By: Daniel Wagner: REALTOR® Magazine Online
Among people earning more than $300,000 a year, fewer than half believe real estate values will increase in the next year, according to an annual survey released yesterday by U.S. Trust Co., a wealth management firm.

But that pessimism isn’t enough to discourage this segment from investing. On average 15 percent of their portfolios are invested in real estate, just as it was last year when 72 percent believed real estate prices would rise.

“You can’t turn real estate on and off,” says Louis Altfest, a financial planner.

Wealth manager Steven Roge of R.W. Roge and Co. also dismissed the discrepancy. “Concern over real estate is driven by what people hear in the media and on the covers of magazines.”