Real Estate Stays On Top As Americans’ Favorite Investment For The Long Term

James Royal

Mortgage rates are surging higher, inflation is soaring, and many experts are forecasting a recession may soon be on the way. Despite these negative impacts on the housing market, real estate remains America’s favorite long-term investment in 2022, according to a just-released Bankrate survey. It was the third time in the last four years that real estate took the top honors.

In all, 29 percent of Americans said that real estate was their top pick for investing money that they didn’t need for 10 or more years. Real estate made a strong showing, and it was the second-highest result – behind only the 31 percent it notched in 2019 – in the survey’s 10 years of polling.

“Despite a housing market that is coming off the boil, preference for real estate remains high,” says Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate chief financial analyst. “For the third time in the past four years and sixth time in the past 10 years, real estate is Americans’ preferred way to invest money not needed for more than 10 years.”

Key takeaways:

• Real estate remains the most popular long-term investment, with 29 percent of Americans saying it’s their top choice.
• Of those who did not select stocks as their preferred investment, 36 percent cited high volatility as the biggest reason why they picked something else.
• About 75 percent of Americans say they’re uncomfortable with cryptocurrency.
• Stocks were the top pick for baby boomers, college graduates and higher earners.

Real estate remains the most popular long-term investment

As it did last year and for three of the past four years, real estate sits atop the list of Americans’ favorite ways to invest money not needed for 10 or more years. More than 29 percent tapped real estate as their preferred long-term investment, the second-highest showing ever in the 10 years of the Bankrate survey.

Here’s the full list of responses and the percentage of Americans who favored each:

• Real estate – 29 percent
• Stock market – 26 percent
• Cash investments (savings, CDs) – 17 percent
• Gold or other precious metals – 9 percent
• Bonds – 9 percent
• Bitcoin/cryptocurrency – 6 percent
• None of these – 3 percent