In mid-2010, many observers are concerned that the global economy and financial system is faltering, and that the way forward is unclear. In this article, we look at how far we have come in the past two years and consider the prospects for the future and the role of real estate in that future.

This has been a dangerous time, with a nearly universal credit crisis across the developed world leading to the first global reduction in GDP since the Great Depression. There has been significant recovery, with much of the credit going to government intervention used to speed economic recovery and prop up private (and public) financial institutions that were in the process of collapse. These efforts have mostly worked, thus far, and almost all the world’s economies are growing again, albeit at different rates and not without problems.

Looking back with a two-year perspective, it is apparent that, for the long-term investor with moderate leverage, the actual impact of the globa