He bases his crystal ball declaration largely on new data passed along to members of the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate. The 13-year-old Washington, DC industry group's new survey shows foreign nationals from 17 countries plan to invest, over the next several years, more than the total $272 billion in assets they already own in the United States.

As their first choice, foreign investors will be putting the bulk of their money into multifamily properties, the AFIRE online-published survey shows. This marks the first major investment trend change for foreign nationals in 10 years. Multifamily usually is the No. 2 selection.

It's also the first time office properties are being ranked second choice since 1994. Industrial, retail and hotel properties ranked, in that order, behind office.