Real estate remains Americans' top investment choice for the long term, according to Gallup's annual economy and personal finance survey.
Thirty-six percent of respondents in the survey, conducted in April, chose real estate, about the same as last year. Twenty-two percent named stocks or mutual funds as the best investment, 18% gold and 13% savings accounts or certificates of deposit.
Only 4% chose bonds and 3% cryptocurrency as the best long-term investments.
The recent performance of real estate and stocks likely explains their high position on the list this year, Gallup said. U.S. real estate values are down from the record high in the fourth quarter of 2022 but remain well above the average values from early 2021 and before. Stock values also reached new highs this year.
The report noted that real estate has sat astride the list each year since 2014, with between 30% and 45% (in 2022) of respondents selecting it. In 2013, it tied for first with gold and stocks; in the prior two years, it trailed gold.
Americans' historical tendency to consider real estate as the best long-term investment is consistent with their usual expectations of rising local home values, the report said.
Income, Political Differences
Americans at all income levels see real estate as a better investment than other options, the survey found. However, people from different income groups and political parties disagree on the value of other investments.
Thirty-one percent of upper-income Americans, those with incomes of at least $100,000, said stocks are the best investment, compared with 14% of lower-income Americans, those with incomes of less than $40,000. Twenty-three percent of lower-income Americans picked gold and 20% savings accounts.
Just 7% of upper-income Americans considered savings accounts the best choice for investors.
