Weekend round-up

Here is a collection of real estate articles from around the world to comment on. What are you seeing out there in your area? Post your links and thoughts.

International Real Estate Investment: What Investors Should Know - General

Media to blame for slump, say real estate agents - New Zealand

Global wealth boom to trigger a 77pc surge in millionaires - World

India Real Estate Expo 2008 - USA

REAL ESTATE: Outlook tough for sellers - USA

Foreign buyers snap up US real estate - USA

Property in the Caribbean: St Lucia goes bananas for property - Caribbean

Can UAE real estate boom dodge US slow down? - Middle East

International buyers eye Canadian real estate - Canada

Real estate bargains in high-growth areas of the world

With the US in a real estate down-turn, and the credit crisis negatively affecting capital markets around the world, real estate investors are looking to the emerging markets for opportunities.

Some emerging markets of interest include Brazil, Asia and India which are areas that are still growing at a healthy pace. While participating directly in these markets is not feasible for most individuals there are opportunities to get in on the action through REITs that invest in foreign real estate.

Final thought: While there seems to be much hype around foreign real estate investments on the web with plenty of "big" names such as Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch chasing the money. However, the contrarian in me suspects the best opportunities are those markets that have already been beaten down. As the old Wall Street saying goes, buy when there is blood on the street.