From mattress to bricks and mortar: why millionaires are investing in real estate again
In the world of the ultra-rich, preserving capital is almost a science. And like any science, it adapts, redefines, and, above all, anticipates. This is what family offices are doing, those discrete and highly specialized structures that manage the assets of large family fortunes.
In this 2025 marked by high global volatility , these entities are turning the wheel: less cash, less public debt and more assets with real anchorage , among them, the old and always reliable brick.
The data from UBS's recent Global Family Office Report 2025 speaks volumes. Worldwide, family offices are shifting their portfolios away from traditional assets toward structural growth and diversification strategies. While reducing cash and fixed-income positions, they are expanding their exposure to developed market equities and private debt instruments. But one category in particular is attracting special attention: real estate.
In 2024, 11% of these vehicles' global investments were allocated to real estate, a figure that rises to 18% for US family offices . In contrast, in Latin America, that proportion falls to a modest 6%. This difference is not anecdotal: it reveals a gap in maturity, trust, and strategic vision between the two hemispheres.
Despite the technological revolution and the rise of digital assets, real estate continues to fulfill a function that no other asset can fully replace: tangible stability. In a context where the main threats to portfolios are the trade war, unstable geopolitics, and the risk of a debt crisis, real estate offers predictability, a hedge against inflation, and—in developed markets—attractive and consistent returns.
American family offices seem to have internalized this logic. With an 18% allocation to real estate, they prioritize investments in cities with strong housing demand, office conversions, multifamily developments, and premium segments that combine legal certainty with appreciation potential. It's no coincidence that many are "returning home": confidence in North America as a region of solid future growth is growing.
In Latin America , however, the approach is still markedly conservative. Family offices in the region allocate 31% of their portfolios to fixed income —partly due to financial literacy, partly out of necessity in the face of chronic inflation or political volatility—and barely 6% to real estate . This underexposure to the real estate sector not only indicates caution, but also opportunity.
According to our estimates, there are nearly 1.2 million investors in the region with net worths between US$1 million and US$5 million. Brazil and Mexico lead the way, followed by Colombia, Argentina, and Chile. If we include affluent investors —those with between US$250,000 and US$1 million to invest—the number rises to more than US$10 million. In other words, there is capital available . A lot of it.
The challenge, as always, is channeling it. With barely 6% invested in real estate, there is enormous scope for regional portfolios to incorporate properties as a structural component. The key will be to improve legal, regulatory, and fiscal conditions to attract this dormant capital. Clear rules, incentives for private investment, and stable frameworks can trigger a new virtuous cycle of real estate development in the Southern Cone and beyond.
Another fundamental difference lies in how this capital is managed. While in the US, passive management (based on indexes) slightly dominates at 53%, in Latin America, active management is preferred (56%), meaning personalized, selective decisions with greater investor involvement. This fact, far from being anecdotal, is an invitation to the real estate sector: projects with solid storytelling , transparent projected returns, and well-communicated strategies can capture this appetite for selective investment.
Everything indicates that, albeit gradually, real estate will once again take center stage in the decisions of Latin American family offices . Whether as a refuge from volatility or as a commitment to regional development, real estate has a fertile path ahead. The capital is there, and so is the need for diversification. All that remains is for the region's markets to rise to the challenge.
In short, while millionaires redefine their investment strategies, the bricks and mortar remain. More than ever, it's time for Latin America—and Argentina in particular—to build not just buildings, but confidence.
* The author is managing partner of Americas Capital
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