The Overlooked Risk in Global Real Estate: Currency

What matters most might be missing from this chart.
A quick primer on real estate currency risk.

Currency shifts could soon remind real estate players that investing abroad comes with hidden costs.

Quick survey of current conditions...

Interest rates:
The U.S. has kept rates relatively high, protecting the dollar.

Relative growth:
The U.S. economy continues to surprise to the upside.

Energy independence:
A decade ago, the U.S. needed international oil and gas. That link between markets is much weaker today.

Tariffs:
Inherently defensive, and they exist in ways today that seemed impossible a few years ago.

Fiscal deficits:
In what looks like a race to the bottom, most major economies are running huge gaps.

If this seems really complicated, trust your instinct.

None of these drivers have much to do with real estate directly, but any one of them could easily define performance.

Currency shocks from decades past are likely far enough in the rearview mirror to push their risks into the dark.

But their effects could swing both ways...

Glass half empty:
Continued dollar strength could wipe out foreign investment gains.

Glass half full:
Exposure to global currencies introduces diversification, which can help long-dated investors.

Currency shocks don't come often, but when they do, they leave a mark.
 

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