The rise of the emerging markets has been a key global trend of recent economic history, highlighted by the ascent of the BRIC countries in the last 10 years or so, but established well before. While activity in these immature markets — where higher returns are accompanied by greater risk and volatility — remains undeveloped, the potential is clear and it is no surprise that investor interest has been increasing. The ongoing search for returns in the current low interest rate environment is only likely to reinforce this.

Emerging market investment in a real estate context was the focus of a recent Investment Property Forum research project. The survey carried out for the project was aimed at understanding the scale and balance of activity between established and emerging markets; and at gauging whether these underdeveloped markets are more “investable” than a decade ago. In addressing these questions, it was hoped to gain insights into the factors that determine the d