A Cultural Affinity for Leverage: Until about twenty years ago, the structural make-up of the real estate industry (i.e. small players, fragmented ownership, no outside equity sources, etc.) dictated that debt, not equity, serve as the primary source of external capital. As a result, market participants grew accustomed to operating with far more leverage than is found in virtually any other industry. Now that financing options for major real estate companies are very similar to what is available to other large corporations, there are several reasons to believe that less debt and more equity
should be the norm going forward.