WASHINGTON, DC-To read the newly-released annual Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate survey, one could easily conclude that the luster of the US real estate market is fading for many foreign investors—although not to the point where any one market could conceivably grab the top spot from the US.

Such an assumption would be correct, James A. Fetgatter, chief executive officer of AFIRE, tells GlobeSt.com. “I think what is happening is that investors are looking for alternatives to the US and Europe, but they are not planning on abandoning these markets,” he says. “Not at all.” It would be impossible, even if investors wanted to, he says—alternative markets such as Brazil will never be able to match the inventory of real estate that the US and Europe offer. “The bulk of most investors’ portfolios is based in the mature markets of the world, and that is largely North America and Europe,” Fetgatter says.

Still, this trend of looking for alternative investment locations is, to state the obvious, an uncomfortable one for the US real estate community, which is struggling to regain its equilibrium. The AFIRE survey also offers one suggestion as to how to get foreign investors to refocus on the US: a tax regime that doesn’t impose additional taxes on their transactions. Namely, a change to or repeal of Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, or FIRPTA.

“Foreign real estate investors have made clear there is considerable pent-up demand for US real estate awaiting better real estate fundamentals and relief from FIRPTA regulations,” Fetgatter said in a statement when releasing the survey. “If the investing environment improves, the US is poised to return to its ‘safe haven’ status.”

The repeal of FIRPTA has been an important policy goal of many real estate advocacy groups, such as the Real Estate Roundtable and National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. For years these organizations have been pushing for a change to this law, citing the barrier it poses to foreign investors interested in the US market. Unfortunately, such advocacy has typically translated into a flurry of activity on the Hill, and then, well, nothing.

Now, however, Fetgatter is hopeful that a shift in Congress may be underway. Late last year, he told NAREIT in a video interview, posted on the association’s website, that there is some momentum to the reform now.

“The most encouraging sign is that people are talking about it,” he said. “I’ve been doing this job for 20 years. FIRPTA has been around for 25 years. I’ve never seen as much buzz about FIRPTA as I have now.” That is because it is becoming more and more clear that investors have new choices outside of the US, he said.

“Twenty five years ago, the US was really their only option other than their own country,” he said. “It is a competitive issue now and FIRPTA really puts the US at a disadvantage.”