Foreign real estate investors expect the U.S. real estate market to recover by the end of the second quarter of 2010, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE).

Survey respondents were optimistic about the prospects for good returns, with more than two-thirds planning to invest in U.S. real estate before the end of the year.

About 31 percent said they were more hopeful now about the health of the U.S. real estate market than they were in January, 16 percent said they were more pessimistic, and 53 percent said their opinion had stayed the same.

The 200 members surveyed predicted that Washington, D.C., New York City, and San Francisco would be the first cities to recover, followed by Boston and Los Angeles.

Source: Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (06/17/2009