The American public is generally unaware of the potential of real estate investing, still a real estate investing resurgence may be in the offing, according to a new survey, released Thursday.
Harris Poll conducted an online survey in mid-March among 2,198 U.S. adults on behalf of RealtyShares, an online marketplace for real estate investing.
The survey found that 40% of respondents were unsure what type of investment had performed the best since 2000.
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Asked to choose among stocks, real estate, commodities, bonds, cash equivalents such as oil, gold and cotton, and other, 25% thought that stocks had been the top-performing asset class since 2000, while 16% said it had been real estate.
Nine percent believed commodities had performed the best, 6% said cash equivalents and 3% picked bonds as the best performer.
RealtyShares said respondents' perception had likely been fueled by the conditions around the recent economic recession, giving stocks the edge when the results had historically been mixed.
In the period Dec. 31, 2000, to Dec. 30, 2016, real estate outperformed the stock market approximately 2:1, returning 10.71% annually compared with the S&P 500 Index's 5.43% annual total return.
It noted that although the S&P more recently had had the advantage, both markets had recovered well: the S&P's annual return, end-2010 to end-2016, was 12.65% compared with an 11.37% annual return for real estate.
"Real estate returns have kept pace with or even exceeded certain investment options in the past and, yet, 85% of Americans aren't taking advantage of the opportunity to invest in this asset class," RealtyShares chief executive Nav Athwal said in a statement.
"Risks are inherent with all investments, so diversification is important for any investor's portfolio. That the majority of Americans haven't tapped into real estate can speak to the lack of access that has been inherent in the industry for a long time."
Strong Appetite
