Investors are looking for safe places to park capital gains as volatility roils the stock market. Opportunity zone programs fit the bill.
"In the first month after the coronavirus ground the U.S. economy to a halt, the opportunity zone marketplace had slowed along with the rest of the commercial real estate industry," according to an article by Joseph Pimentel and Jon Bannister. "But over the past month, opportunity zone investors have been some of the most active players in the real estate market, closing deals and starting new projects as most traditional sources of capital stay on the sidelines."
Experts are called on to provide evidence for the idea that the coronavirus is driving the sudden spit of activity in the opportunity zone investment market.
"The program relies on investors deploying capital gains, and the volatility during the pandemic led to them pulling money out of the stock market and searching for a place to park it. Many have chosen opportunity zone funds, experts say, leading to a surge in fundraising in recent weeks."
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research