It really does seem that the upper hand in the debate over property investment can change hands over the course of a single day.
A few weeks ago, the media was dominated by the global credit crunch and the utter failure of property markets in the developed world. While the sub-prime crisis in the United States was part of this, it was but a microcosm for what many in the media were calling the collapse of many developed property markets in European and American regions.
It was also at this point that many analysts came flat-out and suggested the removal of investments from property, citing that the markets were too volatile for most individual investors to be able to navigate safely. This was indeed the conclusion of many financial advisors as well. The result was that in countries like the United Kingdom, many trusts were forced to sell property off in order to reimburse customers and others were forced to simply deny requests and place them on hold for a pre-specified period of 6-12 months.
However, the media appears to be letting up slightly in their doom and gloom forecasting for property and recently they have been more positive in their outlook. Many analysts are now questioning the validity of the claims of the global credit crunch and accompanying housing downturn and many surveyors are finding that the exodus of investors from property markets was largely overblown even in places like the United States and United Kingdom.
With these recent developments, it perhaps comes as no surprise that more news released recently is urging investors to keep their money in property and out of the stock market. Reasons cited include a brighter long term outlook for the property market as well as a generally lower amount of volatility in the average property market versus the average stock market.
Either way, it represents the next step in an ideological battle between pro-property analysts and analysts that feel that the property market (in particular the buy-to-let market) might be too risky for investment at the current moment. This is a battle that is waged throughout the media every single day adding to the confusion and frustration of many investors.
The only thing an investor can do is look at the raw numbers for the markets and by and large these numbers still say that property investment either through buy-to-let agreements or through any other form is still one of the best bets around when it comes to investing worldwide.
