Rang says that with the market entering the third year of theglobal economic dislocation stemming from the credit crisis, thereare clear signs we are at last entering a period of stabilization."The general expectation is that we're looking at a period of atleast three to five years of slow to moderate economic growth thatwill be mirrored in the real estate sector, but is this really sucha bad thing?" he asks. "Looking back at the peak of the market boomperiod in 2005 to 2007, it now seems to have been an aberrationfrom the long-term trend - created by the availability of cheapmoney and the entry of new types of players into real estate."

These new entries approached investments from the perspective offinancial structures, rather than from a deep understanding ofunderlying bricks and mortar. This profound correction is probablygood for the long-term health of the sector, he adds. Theincreasing cost of debt, along with tougher bank capitalrequirements, will mean greater equity components for deals,resulting in much more moderate pricing.

In the early 1990s, the Latin American debt crisis was a 'lostdecade' after the eruption of the crisis in 1982 when Mexicoannounced it could not honor its obligations, he says. "Severalsolutions were introduced to tackle the perceived problem ofliquidity rather than solvency in these economies, but nonesucceeded as it became clear countries were not growing out of debtand, in fact, were becoming more indebted. It was only after theintroduction of the Brady Plan in 1989 that Latin America found aroad out of its debt crisis."