American real estate remains the best deal in the world, according to a survey.

Despite a lack of placement opportunities in 2009, foreign investors in real estate said they remain committed to the United States as their preferred real estate investment opportunity, according to the survey conducted by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate and released today.

The survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2009 among the association’s nearly 200 members. They own $304 billion of real estate in the United States and more than than $842 billion of real estate in the world, according to the association.

The last time international real estate investors had such high regard for U.S. properties was in 2003. This year, 51 percent identified said the United States represented the best deal. The United Kingdom ranked second in the survey and China ranked third.

According to survey results, 66 percent of the investors plan to increase their purchases of U.S. real estate this year and plan to increase allocations for equity by 62 percent and for debt by 83 percent over last year’s levels.

As a portion of global real estate, U.S. 2010 allocations for debt represent 80 percent of the global pool; allocations for equity represent 49 percent.