EVERYBODY knows that the credit and mortgage crunch in the United States has seriously affected the housing industry in the United States and the real estate sector as a whole. It may have possible repercussions to its northern neighbor Canada and eventually across the Atlantic in Europe but despite that, economists from all over the globe are bullish and confident that the credit crisis will be contained in the United States. They are likewise upbeat that the United States government, its citizens and the private sector will work hand in hand to combat this crisis and eventually throw it to obscurity where it will eventually end up just a piece of history.

In fact, changes are starting at the United States itself. Los Angeles-based Younan Properties has expanded its Houston portfolio by acquiring three prime properties. In Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the city government has taken the initiative to acquire seven acres of properties for low-cost housing. Meanwhile, in southern Florida, prime beach developer Equity One has bailed out a total of $63.8 million worth of properties. We are confident that the United States can take care of their own concerns so let’s take a look at what real estate investors in the rest of the world are doing to open up 2008 with a bang.

In India for example, investors have established an ingenious way to convert centuries-old heritage sites into hotels. This is an investment with minimal capital because the structures are already in place and all they need are a little bit of retouching. And this can generate huge returns because a lot of tourists the world over who are fascinated with the rich history of India will definitely troop in to visit. If you set your hotel suite package at the right price, then your investment will never go wrong. And one more thing, these palaces-cum-hotels are not concentrated in well-known places such as Delhi, Goa and Bangalore; they are spread across India so that tourism can also be emphasized in lesser known areas of the country. That’s one great plan of the Indian government worth emulating.

In the Philippines, meanwhile, the government has converted idle state-owned lands into prime properties for investments by creating economic zones. At the tip of the archipelago is an island called Mindanao and in the northern part of the island now sits a very ambitious $2 billion shipbuilding yard project as well as a $175 million international airport project all spearheaded by South Korean investors. That is another ingenious way to transform economic development speedily.

In Dubai, Burooj Properties has launched another ambitious project – the Sharjah Marina. The Sharjah Marina will be patterned after authentic Islamic architecture and has commissioned the renowned-Palafox Associates from the Philippines to do the premier architectural supervision of the project. The proposed marina will be 10 million square feet wide and has a spectacular view of Palm Deira. Kudos to Burooj Properties for another deserving accolade.