When asked which is the best long-term investment, a plurality of respondents still said real estate, but the share sank to 34% this year from 45% last year.
The drop brings the preference for real estate more in line with the average from 2016 to 2020, after soaring in the pandemic boom. It also highlights the downturn in housing markets, as high mortgage rates have inducedsurged to second place, with the share who view it as the best long-term investment jumping to 26% this year from 15% in 2022. The share favoring stocks fell to 18% from 24%, marking the first time in 10 years that gold topped stocks.
"Gold tends to be the beneficiary when confidence levels in both real estate and stocks are down. This is typically during times of economic recession or uncertainty, as happened around the time of the Great Recession, and is happening again today," Gallup said.