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According to a recent Gallup poll, 35% of Americans now say that real estate is the best long-term investment. This article by Jim Norman highlights the poll results, based on telephone interviews conducted earlier this month.
Real estate, already Americans’ top pick as the “best long-term investment” for the last two years, has increased its lead over four other investment choices. Thirty-five percent of Americans now choose real estate, compared with 22% for stocks and mutual funds, 17% for gold, 15% for savings accounts/CDs and 7% for bonds.
Real estate and gold have switched positions over the last five years as gold prices tumbled and home sales recovered from the 2007-2009 housing market collapse.
As the average sale price of new homes in the U.S. increased from $259,300 in August 2011 to $348,900 in February of this year, the percentage of Americans picking real estate as the best long-term investment almost doubled.
The poll found that renters are about as likely (32%) as homeowners (34%) to list real estate as the best choice.
Did you know April is National Humor Month? No joke! To celebrate, social networking site SKOUT released some interesting results about the power of laughter, from a study of its users’ profile photos.
Studies have shown that laughter is good for your health and happiness, and laughing with friends is even better for you than laughing alone. SKOUT, the global app that helps you meet new people and expand your social circle, revealed that laughing can help you make more friends, too. The team at SKOUT recently examined a sampling of its users’ profile photos and found that people who share a photo of themselves laughing have their profile favorited 404% more times and make 324% more connections with others than the average person using SKOUT.
“It was surprising for us to see the impact laughter has in a photograph,” said Christian Wiklund, co-founder and CEO of SKOUT. “They say laughter is the best medicine, and now we know it can also help you meet more friends through social media.”
In addition to its review of profile photos, SKOUT recently conducted a survey among more than 3,000 of its users in the U.S. to learn about their thoughts on humor and friendship.
