Real Estate Reigns as Top Long-Term Investment Option

Even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans were most likely to list real estate as the best long-term investment option.

According to a Gallup survey, 35% of respondents said real estate is the best investment, choosing it over stocks, bonds, golds and savings accounts. Real estate has been the top investment chosen by respondents since 2013 and continues the streak this year. Real estate has been chosen by more than one-third of respondents for the past five years.

For investment purposes, faith in the stock market dropped, with only 21% of respondents choosing the option as the best long-term investment, down from 27% last year. Saving accounts or CDs came in third, at 17%, followed by gold at 16%. Gold has taken a hit in the past decade, the element was named the best long-term investment by survey takers in both 2011 and 2012, when real estate was still considered a possibly risky investment. As the real estate industry continues to gain strength, investing in gold continues to wane. Additionally, only 8% of respondents said bonds were the best investment.

Men were more likely than women to choose real estate as an investment (41% vs. 29%), while those aged 34-55 were more apt to choose real estate compared to other age groups.

Will real estate continue to be viewed as a strong investment choice? These days, investing in the stock market may be considered risky, and when Gallup asked respondents if they would invest in the stock market today if they had $1,000 to spend, 48% said it was a good idea, while 49% said it was not.