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.
