While many investors and economists scratch their heads and debate how long the recovery and expansion can last in the United States, global economic growth has accelerated after slowing from 2010–2016, according to the International Monetary Fund. As the U.S. commercial real estate market maintains strong fundamentals and solid returns, foreign capital continues to flow from many parts of the globe, including Canada, Europe and Asia.

Adaptive reuse has been garnering headlines for more than a decade, but it is no longer only about repurposing beautiful, historic properties in primary markets to entice millennials. Many less-attractive but equally newsworthy projects are starting to appear in lower-priced secondary and tertiary markets, where investors see adaptive reuse as a driver of net operating income and yield.

According to Institutional Real Estate, Inc.’s FundTracker database, 832 real estate investment funds are currently on offer. Thirty-five of those are closed-end funds launched in 2014 or earlier — about 8 percent of the total number of closed-end funds in the market. With the average closed-end fund reaching a final closing in about 19 months, give or take a few weeks — based on the most recent three-year rolling average — it is unlikely those 35 funds are actually being marketed actively. Although they have not officially reached a final close, most of the funds taking more than 44 months to close simply are not resonating with investors, and probably never will.

International Farming Corp. (IFC) is planning to raise $1.5 billion for its IFC Core Farmland Fund, an open-end vehicle focused on investing in U.S. farming operations. Under its mandate, the Core Farmland Fund intends to pursue large U.S.-based farmland acquisitions, which it will then lease to large-scale tenants.

A program created by tax reform could pave the way for a flurry of investment activity in struggling communities nationwide. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 contained a provision that allows investors to defer or avoid taxes on capital gains if the money is reinvested in designated “opportunity zones.” The goal is to generate economic activity in areas that once thrived but have fallen on hard times. More than 8,700 areas in the United States have been certified by the Treasury Department as opportunity zones.

These are Dickensian times in the U.S. housing market. Yes, the best and worst of times. Consider that more than half of Americans’ homes are worth about 8 percent more today than the 2007 peak just before the market crashed, and values are continuing to rise. Home prices rose about 8 percent over the past 12 months, and are expected to rise another 6 percent to 7 percent during the next 12-month stint. What’s more, the residential real estate market also finds itself on a far more solid foundation today, with home values rising because of limited inventory rather than demand created by easy credit.

Investors have plenty to celebrate this year on the economic front. The U.S. economy continued its nearly decade-long expansion and has been stronger lately than many people expected. Gross domestic product grew by more than 4 percent in second quarter 2018 — the highest rate in four years.

When President Trump signed into law the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in December 2017, few Americans recognized the continuation and significance of conservation easements. Yet the Internal Revenue Service claimed “most syndicated easement donation transactions are patently abusive.” As financial advisers, one of the primary tenets we are taught is to propose investments that have income and appreciation potential, with tax benefits as a secondary consideration. Conservation easements, if done correctly, may disprove this statement by offering significant tax benefits to suitable investors.

Global listed infrastructure companies, on average, were down 0.80 percent in August, but their long-term annualized total return is 11.8 percent. In comparison, global equities recorded 0.91 percent, according to the FTSE Global Equity Index, and 1.28 percent, according to the MSCI World Index, while global bonds were up 0.19 percent during the month.

Bill Gates’ $1 billion clean energy fund has unveiled its inaugural list of portfolio companies. Among the startups that have won the confidence of the Microsoft Corp. founder, as reported by MIT Technology Review, are: