Читать книгу The Intelligent REIT Investor Guide - Brad Thomas - Страница 24

As an asset class, real estate is usually a very good and stable investment as long as it isn't financed with large amounts of debt. A well‐situated, well‐maintained investment property should grow in value over the years, as should its rental revenue. While buildings may depreciate over time and neighborhoods may change, only a finite amount of land exists on which apartment communities, retail centers, and office buildings can be built. So if you own such a property in the right area, it can be – if not a gold mine – a continuing cash cow. New competitive buildings don't just pop up for no good reason, after all. They're only built if rents or property values are high enough to justify the cost of development.

In either such event, owners of existing properties will likely be better off.

This does once again bring up the issue of inflation. But the extent to which it affects commercial real estate owners isn't all that clear. There have been studies done on this issue, including that of David J. Hartzell, former professor of real estate at the University of North Carolina. He and R. Brian Webb concluded that property “returns tend to exhibit stronger relationships with inflation and its components” during periods of low vacancy rates. Therefore, inflation might not be a benefit to landlords when property markets are weak.