A recent Gallup poll found that 34 percent of Americans said that real estate is the best long-term investment a person can make, topping mutual funds (26 percent), gold (18 percent), savings accounts and CDs (13 percent), and bonds (5 percent).
People in the western part of the U.S. are more favorable toward investing in real estate. In the West, 46 percent of respondents said that it was their top choice, compared to 33 percent in the South, 32 percent in the East, and 24 percent in the Midwest.
This is the fourth consecutive year where real estate took the top spot. Previously, poll respondents said that savings accounts and CDs were the best choice.
Americans' perceptions of the best place to put their money for the long term are similar to 2016, but have shifted since 2011 in line with ups and downs in real estate, the stock market and gold prices.
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