If you’ve followed the stock market recently, you’re no doubt familiar with the volatility the market has suffered in recent weeks. Indeed, February saw the largest one-day drop in the history of the Dow Jones. And while the markets are still strong, this turbulence — as well as future uncertainty with international trade relations — has made real estate investing a more enticing option for forward-thinking investors. In particular, more investors are turning to commercial real estate opportunities in the United States as a way to balance out their investment portfolios.
Investing in Real Estate to Combat Inflation
According to a recently released study by famed investment specialist, Martha Peyton, commercial real estate investments responded better to periods of inflation than corporate stocks, long-term government treasuries, and private bonds. The reason why commercial real estate is such an effective hedge against inflation is that during times of inflation, the price of real estate — particularly larger multi-tenant properties — also goes up.
Take Advantage of Tax Benefits
The Internal Revenue Code offers a wide range of benefits to individuals who own real estate owners. For instance, smart investors can transition large portions of their real estate earnings into things like depreciation deductions and mortgage interest as a way to shield their dividends. Before diving into this sort of high-level real estate investments, though, it’s wise to have a conversation with your tax accountant about how to derive the most benefit from this approach.
Commercial Real Estate Continues to Appreciate
A quick analysis of historic investment trends in commercial real estate indicates that commercial real estate appreciates faster than other investment types. One reason for this is that commercial real estate can appreciate in value because of things that exist outside of the market. For example, a landlord can make a commercial property more valuable by renovating or updating a building to make it more modern. These improvements make the commercial holding more valuable, even though the stock market is not involved in the process.
Commercial Real Estate Has Intrinsic Value
Another reason investors are beginning to turn to commercial real estate is because these properties actually have intrinsic value. While it can be difficult to pinpoint the actual value of a stock, a commercial real estate property is valuable because the land the property sits on has tangible value, as does the actual structure of the property itself. This intrinsic value means that commercial real estate holdings do not fluctuate in value as frequently as stocks do.