Aerial view of Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Mario Tama/Getty ImagesU.S. home prices have been rising at a quick clip—and respondents to an April Gallup poll expect them to keep climbing.
Of the 961 respondents polled for Gallup’s annual Housing Market Update, 71% said they expect home prices to rise this year. That’s the largest share since Gallup began asking the question in 2005 and 31 percentage points higher than last year’s results, which came as uncertainty in the immediate wake of the Covid-19 pandemic temporarily freezing the housing market.
Following that initial pause, the mismatch between high buyer demand and low supplies of homes for sale has helped drive up prices through the pandemic. In March, the most recent month for which data from the National Association of Realtors is available, the median existing home sold for $329,100, an increase of 17.2% year over year.
Swiftly rising home prices—and the expectation that they will continue to climb—could be why 41% of respondents told Gallup that real estate is the best long-term investment, the largest share in the 11 years Gallup has asked a five-option version of the question.
Stocks and mutual funds were the second-most popular option, with 26% of respondents calling these the best long-term investment. Gold was favored by 18% of those polled, followed by savings accounts and CDs at 9%. The least popular long-term investment was bonds, which were favored by 3% of respondents.
Housing has been respondents’ favorite long-term investment for several years, but that hasn’t always been the case. In 2011 and 2012, gold was the most popular investment. In the midst of the 2008-09 financial crisis, a previous version of the question that excluded gold found savings accounts and CDs favored by the majority of respondents.
The stock market has, over the past decade, grown faster than home prices. Between February 2011 and February 2021, home prices grew 72% nationally, according to the seasonally adjusted S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index. The S&P 500, in the same time frame, grew about 191%, and returned 259%, including dividends, according to FactSet.
But price growth is only one way to measure the utility of housing as a long-term investment. Buying a home can be more affordable than renting, and owning a house allows homeowners to build equity. Home equity in 2017 comprised 28.9% of household wealth, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Despite respondents’ bullishness on housing as an investment, a relatively small majority said it was a good time to purchase a home. Of those polled, 53% said now was a good time to buy—an increase from last year’s all-time low of 50%, but otherwise the slimmest share since 2008.
“Americans appear to be aware of the rise in home values, and they expect prices to continue to rise,” wrote Gallup Senior Editor Jeffrey M. Jones. “Their belief in continued rising prices at a time when home values have never been higher would help explain why they are less optimistic than usual that it is a good time to buy a home.”
Write to Shaina Mishkin at shaina.mishkin@dowjones.com
"term" - Google News
May 12, 2021 at 12:42AM
https://ift.tt/3tCSEV3
Housing Is a Better Long-Term Investment Than Stocks, Gold, Americans Tell Poll - Barron's
"term" - Google News
https://ift.tt/35lXs52
https://ift.tt/2L1ho5r
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Housing Is a Better Long-Term Investment Than Stocks, Gold, Americans Tell Poll - Barron's"
Post a Comment