Summary: Real estate market is now a short-cut to profit generation. If your motive is to earn handsome profits, then go for the real estate mutual funds.

Unless you were hiding inside caves or floating in the so-called dream-world, you must have heard about the slowdown in realty markets worldwide. And, just as with any other hyped-up bull market, a lot of people who had bet that prices would rise forever are getting surprised. Nevertheless, buying real estate is an investment and buying during the dips - while prices are falling - can generate profit over time.

But, remember that investing in real estate is quite unpredictable like stocks. The racks at book shops, TV Shows, Corporate Handouts, and Internet Web Portals or Blogs are mushrooming ideas insisting that many are making their fortunes in real estate, but the truth is, compared with stocks, real estate is a more complex, multi-dimensional investment.

So, if you have to buy a new home to live-in and can afford it, just buy what ever may be the market situation. Property ownership is the best overall investment, and when you look at the complete picture, it is true - there are many tax savings and financial advantages to owning a home, and most properties do tend to appreciate over the passage of time if the chosen locality is good.

But, the idea of real estate investment returns should consider major property buying drivers like cost of the property, location, condition (furnished or semi furnished), your current rental value and personal taste. The bottom-line is, investment property is a piece of real estate that generates income - more compared to its purchase and maintenance. Whether it is a beach condo or office space, the biggest consideration is income that exceeds the cost. The cost includes everything: home loan payments, taxes, upkeep, utilities, etc.

The buying decision is not fully dependent on whether the real estate market is at the boom or the doom. If you want to make a stock market type investment in real estate, you can better consider investing in real estate mutual funds or trusts. There are many realty funds now available in the Indian market, and as they always advise, do read the offer documents before investing!