AUSTIN—A recent GlobeSt.com story reported that foreign investors might be getting skittish about placing bets in the States. That's a puzzling position to Michael Dardick, president and CEO of Granite Properties. Dardick, who will be a featured speaker at the upcoming CCIM THRIVE conference here also believes that there's been too much focus on the true meaning of economic conditions in Greece, which he likens in global importance to Dallas, TX.

In a recent interview, he shared his thoughts on this and more:

GlobeSt.com: So what's your reaction to the story this morning about foreign investors second guessing US plays?

Michael Dardick: My experience has been that every time the world goes into upheaval, money runs to the United States. It's one of the things that makes me proud to be an American. People love the safety, security and rule of law we have in our country.

Hearing that foreigners might be questioning investment in the US is frankly shocking to me. We had a higher GDP in the second quarter—3.7%—than anyone anticipated. The recent stock market issues appear to be a reaction to China. If I were a foreign investor, I would step back and ask what my alternative investment choices are, but I don't think anybody today would look at the United States' economic standing in the world and say it got worse this month. The only thing they could question would be the currency wars that are going on and how that might impact exports.

Now the flip side of that is that foreign investors could be wounded in terms of capital if they invested heavily in the US and China stock markets. So they might be considering all of their alternative choices.

GlobeSt.com: So what is the real impact of what's going on in Greece and China?

Dardick: Greece and China are exceptionally different. To put that into perspective, economically Greece is half the size of Dallas, TX. So my question to the world would be: If the mayor of Dallas said they were having some budget problems and they wouldn't be able to buy a new firetruck or fill the potholes the way they wanted, would the world change its investment pattern? The answer is no. Greece is a public reminder of how much the European economy is just flat, a large economy that's just not moving.

But there is a bigger issue with Greece and it's a psychological one. If I, as a country, can tell creditor nations that I'm just not going to pay you back, does that become a contagion and can some larger and more important nation like Spain decide they can do it too? And that's why we're seeing the European Union trying to work through the Greece issue and put a Band-Aid on it. 

GlobeSt.com: But as for China?

Dardick: Now China's very different. Globally China is a significant economy with significant global promise. It's been a big driver of demand around the world for commodities and resources. But nobody really knows the situation there because there's not a lot of transparency or information to really help us understand what we're dealing with.

This creates uncertainty. Now investors can accept a negative situation because they know how to deal with that. But they pause at uncertainty.

GlobeSt.com: Let's talk about some issues closer to home. Do you worry about interest rates?

Dardick: We've all been wrong about interest rates for many years. If you look at cap rates and investment returns, the markets have already moved to build in somewhere between a 50- and 100-basis-point move in the interest rate. So theoretically the first couple of moves should not affect investment returns. But again, psychologically, will they? I don't know. The feds have to be concerned about trying to get some interest-rate increases.

GlobeSt.com: Why?

Dardick: Frankly so when the economy does slow down they have room to reduce rates as a stimulative move. Having said that, we don't have inflation yet, so there doesn't need to be a lot of large interest-rate increases.