Although the real estate bubble was blamed for last year’s financial crisis, real estate markets may now be benefiting from the recession, according to a new survey of global high-net-worth investors released by Barclays Wealth Monday morning.

Over the next two years, 35% of the survey’s respondents plan to increase the portion of their portfolios dedicated to real estate, not including their primary residences. The average allocation to real estate among respondents was 28%; that number falls to 23% for wealthy U.S. investors. Investors in nine out of 10 countries expect to increase their allocation to real estate by 1% to 4% over the next two years, likely raising the global average allocation to 30%.

Investors who plan to increase their real estate stakes believe that the asset class holds better long-term prospects than other more complex financial instruments, which many blame for igniting the financial crisis. Moreover, thanks to the recent turmoil in nearly all real estate markets around the world, investors also see great bargains right now.

Investors are less enthusiastic about commercial real estate, due to rising unemployment  rates worldwide. The Investment Property Databank Property Index, which measures the combined performance of real estate markets in 23 countries, showed negative returns of 22.1%.

The tight credit environment is hindering investors’ interest in residential and commercial markets alike, however. For instance, 45% of respondents say that while they believe there are opportunities in residential markets now, a lack of available credit is making it hard for them to advantage of them. In the commercial markets, 50% of investors say high borrowing prices make taking advantage of opportunities challenging.

Allocations to real estate tend to increase with wealth. Almost 40% of the respondents with $48 million or more in investable assets invest more than half of their portfolios in real estate. Nearly 70% of these wealthy investors have some exposure to direct commercial real estate investments.

Most respondents’ outlooks were decidedly long-term. Less than half expect an increase in the overall value of these investments in the next two years, while 29% expect no change at all. Twenty-three percent expect to see a decrease.

More than three-quarters of respondents invest mostly in their domestic market. When asked what other markets are attractive to them right now, however, the U.S. ranked No. 1, followed by China, the U.K and India, in that order. U.S. real estate is particularly appealing because of recent price declines, the falling dollar and long-term positive prospects for the U.S. economy.

The report, commissioned by Barclays Wealth and written by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), was based on two main sections of research. The EIU conducted a survey during August and September of more than 2,000 individuals with over $800,000 in investable assets and located in 10 major countries.