SEATTLE-Ask most investors globally what time it is on theproperty clock for their markets, and they’ll tell you it’s 8:00.That is, the market has passed the trough “hour” of 6:00 and is onits way back up to midnight. However, that doesn’t mean they trustthe fundamentals generally, and that’s largely the reason that 70%of global investors surveyed by Colliers International have noplans for cross-border deals in the coming 12 months, although 60%are looking to expand their real estate portfolios in the nextyear.

“Compared to earlier this year, the tone is better, but there’sstill a ton of caution,” Ross Moore, Vancouver-based chiefeconomist for Colliers, tells GlobeSt.com. The firm had polledinvestors worldwide at the start of the year; the latest survey,conducted during the third quarter and released last month, shows amodest uptick in bullishness compared to the Q1 edition.

The cross-border impetus is stronger in Western Europe than inother regions, with 62% of investors intended to do deals outsidetheir native countries. Moore chalks it up to local marketconditions in that region.