Liquid
In the
financial markets liquid refers to
liquidity; that is, how quickly and easily an
asset can be converted to
cash.
Real estate is much less liquid then, for example, bars of
gold.
Gold can be converted to cash simply almost
immediately at a
precious metals dealer
Real estate, by contrast, requires a substantially longer period of
time. Typcially a seller must retain the
services of a broker, who in turn will
advertise the
property to locate a buyer. Unless wealthy, the buyer will approach a bank for a mortgage, which will require time for review, etc. The process of converting real estate to it's cash equivalent obviously takes much longer.
Any asset can be measured in terms of it's
liquidity; this
risk weighted asset, or
RWA.