What do you think about the trend of foreign investment in real estate ?

I am answering this question as a potential foreign investor. My business is designed to invest in agricultural assets and business activities across the Asia-Pacific region in the main. My answer might have some different things mentioned, however they will give a general overview of thinking when considering investing in other countries.

Firstly, assuming the investment is suited to the company (in the right industry, ability to manage etc), what is the political situation in which the investment needs to be made. This is a contextual issue as political changes can be made rapidly in some countries and this, completely outside the control of the investor, can make or break the investing foreign company. So there is a very large risk factor to be considered first before anything is done in respect to investing.
This is one reason why a lot of investment stays in the more developed countries where stable democratic political strategies are in place. It is true, even in these countries, that political changes get made that can damage a business. However, it is a low probability that, say, land ownership would change. You will not find a strategy of taking ownership back without commercial compensation as can be found in less developed countries. Generally, although political parties change in developed countries, the base of investment rarely changes.
Political risk insurance is available and most foreign investors will take this insurance and build the cost of that into the project in question. That sounds wonderful, but you need to realise it is expensive and is always passed on, and in many cases can make a project unviable.

Secondly, what levels of corruption are in play within the country. Where, to get projects underway, an investor is asked to pay bribes, handouts, supply gifts, can only go ahead if certain people are hired in the project and so on, most investors will walk away. And those that don't need to be questioned as to their business ethics if these are not taken out of the project.
If someone from a developed country is investing internationally, it is sure bet that that company is subject to a variety of anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws that must be met. The bottom line of that is any corruption breaks those laws somewhere. And even asking for a bribe or similar in any way, in some countries laws, are also illegal.
I have personally been told in several countires 'this is the way we do things here'. And that is probably true for the local people. However, as a foreign investor who must meet these various requirements, it is simply not something the company/business can be involved in, and does stop some investment. This is true for others I know as well

Thirdly, how does this project assist the local community and country as well as the business investing? I realise not all foreign investors would be thinking this way - some prefer rape and pillage strategies. But not all, and where this is part of the planning of the business, as in our case, the humantarian aspects need to be met in some way to ethically justify the investment.
This is not as easy as it seems. It will entail many areas of consideration and negotation to get right, and can take considerable time and money. Where this is seen as being too hard, then the investor will walk away.

After these three areas, all the expected business related things then come to play. These need to ensure the project can be profitable and meet all the project goals in every area. This is also an expensive activity which needs to happen well before any project is fully committed, so investors will only commit to do this work and spend the money here if they are sure there is a high chance of success. It is also why many times the risks are shared amongst multipled investors, including local companies and governments.

Hope this helps a bit