Cynthia J. Hoffman is editor of Real Estate Forum

SAN FRANCISCO-Increased economic expansion is on tap for China, India and even Japan, but not all markets hold equal opportunity for incoming investors. That was a major theme of a session held Thursday morning at the CB Richard Ellis World Conference here.

"All countries should demonstrate strong growth through 2010 and should help lift their surrounding neighbors," stated session moderator Rob Blain, CBRE Asia Pacific chairman and CEO.

Although Japan is a more mature market and opportunities there may be harder to find, said Blain, they do exist. Toshiro Sato, executive officer of global corporate services in Tokyo, noted that the increasing securitization of real estate, which over the past 10 years has reached the US$25-billion mark, is illustrative of the country's strengthening investment climate. The problem is that there is a shortage of good product to buy.