Market sector value

According to The Economist, "developed economies'" assets at the end of 2007 was
Residential property: $48 trillion
Commercial property: $14 trillion
Equities: $20 trillion
Government bonds: $20 trillion
Corporate bonds: $13 trillion
Total: $115 trillion
That makes real estate assets 54% and financial assets 46% of total stocks, bonds, and real estate assets. Assets not counted here are bank deposits, insurance "reserve" assets, and human assets; also it is not clear if all debt and equity investments are counted in the categories equities and bonds. For U.S. asset levels see FRB: Z.1 Release-- Flow of Funds Accounts of the United States.

Real Estate

Real estate is a legal term (in some jurisdictions, notably in the USA) that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. Real estate is often considered synonymous with real property (also sometimes called realty), in contrast with personal property (also sometimes called chattel or personalty). However, in some situations the term "real estate" refers to the land and fixtures together, as distinguished from "real property," referring to ownership rights of the land itself.
The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property.

UK Real Estate

Real estate or immovable property is a legal term (in some jurisdictions) that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. Real estate (immovable property) is often considered synonymous with real property (also sometimes called realty), in contrast with personal property (also sometimes called chattel or personalty). However, for technical purposes, some people prefer to distinguish real estate, referring to the land and fixtures themselves, from real property, referring to ownership rights over real estate.The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property.

Mortgages in real estate

In recent years, many economists have recognized that the lack of effective real estate laws can be a significant barrier to investment in many developing countries. In most societies, rich or poor, a significant fraction of the total wealth is in the form of land and buildings.In most advanced economies, the main source of capital used by individuals and small companies to purchase and improve land and buildings is mortgage loans (or other instruments). These are loans for which the real property itself constitutes collateral. Banks are willing to make such loans at favorable rates in large part because, if the borrower does not make payments, the lender can foreclose by filing a court action which allows them take back the property and sell it to get their money back. For investors, profitability can be enhanced by using an off plan or pre-construction strategy to purchase at a lower price which is often the case in the pre-construction phase of development.But in many developing countries there is no effective means by which a lender could foreclose, so the mortgage loan industry, as such, either does not exist at all or is only available to members of privileged social classes.

Real property

Real property is a legal term encompassing real estate and ownership interests in real estate (immovable property). It is a type of property differentiated from personal property.This article discusses the ownership of land using the interpretation of real property as a legal term used in Anglo-American common law jurisdictions. Other legal geopolitical systems of government have different legal interpretations concerning the ownership of land. Terminology varies in these systems, as well: for instance, heritable property in Scotland; immovable property in Canada, United States, India, Malta, Cyprus, most of Europe including Russia, also South America, Malaysia, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and many other countries and continents; and immobilier (real estate) in France.

U.S. interpretation

In the United States, each state has its own real immovable property law. All states except Louisiana rely on variations of common law for the basis of their real immovable property laws. Louisiana's laws are derived from Napoleonic Code[citation needed] but have adopted some of the common law terms over the years.

Etymology

In law, the word real means relating to a thing (from Latin res/rei, thing), as distinguished from a person. Thus the law broadly distinguishes between "real" property (land and anything affixed to it) and "personal" property (everything else, e.g., clothing, furniture, money). The conceptual difference was between immovable property, which would transfer title along with the land, and movable property, which a person would retain title to. (The word is not derived from the notion of land having historically been "royal" property. The word royal — and its Portuguese cognate real — come from the related Latin word rex-regis, meaning king.).

British, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish usages of the term

In British usage, however, “real property”, often shortened to just “property”, refers rather to land and fixtures as such while the term “real estate” is used mostly in the context of probate law, and means all interests in land held by a deceased person at death excluding interests in money arising under a trust for sale of or charged on land.[1]In French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, real estate is called "immovables" (immobilier in French, immobili in Italian, imóvel in Portuguese and inmueble in Spanish); other property is called "movables" (mobilier and mueble).

Levels

According to The Economist, "developed economies'" assets at the end of 2002 wasResidential property: $48 trillionCommercial property: $14 trillionEquities: $20 trillionGovernment bonds: $20 trillionCorporate bonds: $13 trillionTotal: $115 trillionThat makes real estate assets 54% and financial assets 46% of total stocks, bonds, and real estate assets. Assets not counted here are bank deposits, insurance "reserve" assets, and human assets; also it is not clear if all debt and equity investments are counted in the categories equities and bonds. For US asset levels see FRB: Z.1 Release-- Flow of Funds Accounts of the United States.

Business sector

With the development of private property ownership, real estate has become a major area of business. Purchasing real estate requires a significant investment, and each parcel of land has unique characteristics, so the real estate industry has evolved into several distinct fields. Specialists are often called on to valuate real estate and facilitate transactions. Some kinds of real estate businesses include:Appraisal - Professional valuation servicesBrokerages - Assisting buyers and sellers in transactionsDevelopment - Improving land for use by adding or replacing buildingsProperty management - Managing a property for its owner(s)Real Estate Marketing - Managing the sales side of the property businessReal Estate Investing - Managing the investment of real estateRelocation services - Relocating people or business to a different countryWithin each field, a business may specialize in a particular type of real estate, such as residential, commercial, or industrial property. In addition, almost all construction business effectively has a connection to real estate."Internet Real Estate" is a term coined by the internet investment community relating to the parallel that exists between high quality internet domain names and real-world, prime real estate. Many internet companies actually use the address of properties as domain names.