Real estate remains Americans' top choice for long-term investment: poll

One third of Americans believe that real estate is their top choice for long-term investment, found a poll released Friday.

The April 5-9 Gallup poll showed that 34 percent of Americans favor real estate as their top choice for long-term investment. This is the fourth consecutive year that real estate has been the most favorite investment choice for Americans.

The poll found that stocks and mutual funds are the second choice for Americans' long-term investment, at 26 percent.

It was followed by gold (18 percent), savings accounts and CDs (13 percent) and bonds (5 percent) in the list of Americans' top choices of best long-term investment.

The mentions of real estate and stocks are much higher today than in 2011 and 2012, when both sectors of the economy were still recovering from the 2007-2009 recession, including sharp downturns in the housing and stock markets, Gallup said.

Meanwhile, gold and bonds are less popular than in 2011 and 2012 as Americans' top long-term investment choice. In 2011, gold ranked No. 1 in the list as it was mentioned by 34 percent of Americans, and bonds were favored by 10 percent -- twice today's level.

As gold prices fell and the housing market and stocks recovered, which perhaps make bonds less appealing, the public regained its confidence in real estate and stocks, according to Gallup's analysis.

Americans' preference for traditional savings accounts and CDs has been consistently muted since 2011, given that interest rates have been at or near historical lows during this period, it added.

The poll also found that residents in America's West are more likely than those in other parts of the country to favor real estate as their best long-term investment.

While 46 percent of residents in America's West list real estate as the best investment option, 33 percent in the South, 32 percent in the East and 24 percent in the Midwest do the same, Gallup found. Endit