The lack of affordable housing is a universal problem. Not surprisingly, the most notable shortages of adequate housing were found in developing nations, where the housing stock has failed to keep pace with economic development.

GIC, Singapore’s giant sovereign wealth fund, gets around. The $320 billion investment giant has just established its ninth overseas office, but its first in Latin America.

The office market has been heating up in the Golden State for a while now, and 2014 might see it hit its boiling point.

The problem with the phrase “gateway cities” is that it is just too restrictive. Generally, it means the core cities where foreign sources of capital are most likely to invest in commercial real estate.

Liabilities — particularly unfunded liabilities — will keep any institutional investor awake at night, but sensible long-term planning and effective asset allocation is the path of the righteous and prudent investor.

The outlook for 2013 was for gradual improvement with gains driven by housing but tempered by policy headwinds. The outlook for 2014 is the same but comes from a vantage point that is further down that path.

The U.S. economy is steadily moving toward an important milestone in this economic cycle: the point at which the economy moves from employment recovery into employment expansion.

In the debate over whether to extend unemployment benefits, Congress is considering using pension funding relief to help pay the cost. Extension of unemployment benefits may or may not be a good idea, but extension of pension relief certainly is.

During the past few years, almost every real estate investment professional I’ve encountered seems to have a common shared belief. They think that inflation will soon be rearing its ugly head, and that a rise in interest rates won’t be far behind. “But,” almost everyone is quick to add, “not by very much.”