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Most affluent business owners and U.S. consumers fear over-speculation in the real estate market, according to a quarterly survey conducted for McDonald Financial Group, a financial services company. About 63 percent of business owners, defined in the survey as those who are owners, principals or controlling shareholders in companies, believe there is a real estate bubble compared with 60 percent of affluent consumers overall. Despite these fears, 45 percent of business owners feel that over the next three months, real estate will be the most lucrative investment vehicle – over stocks, bonds, or mutual funds. Affluent consumers felt similarly, though at slightly lower rates (37 percent). Just over half of the business owners surveyed feel the bubble will not burst for one year or more, compared to 61 percent of affluent consumers who believe it will. Fifty-nine percent of business owners are using real estate as the top investment vehicle in their retirement strategy, compared to 35 percent of affluent American consumers in the survey.
