World's best places to invest

With each passing day of bad market news, it's easy to see why there's so much skepticism about real estate investing. Despite banks' shareholders and equity investors tending to want less real estate in their portfolios, however, there are myriad growth opportunities in properties ranging from apartments in Sydney to office buildings in Shanghai. And some investors are shopping aggressively.

Hong Kong
While residential properties go for price-per-square-foot rates that would make even a New Yorker blush, the critical market for real estate investment in Hong Kong is in the office sector, as the city is one of Asia's financial capitals. It doesn't hurt that the small island is so fully developed that, due to a lack of space, supply often lags behind demand. While rents for prime locations have dipped between 2% and 5% since March, rents in the Traditional Center and in Cheung Sha Wan, for example, are up 35% and 52%.
; Фотограф: ILE