Majority of Americans Consider Real Estate a Good Investment

According to a new Bankrate survey, a majority of Americans say they would put their hard-earned income in real estate. Conducted by Bankrate, the Web's leading aggregator of financial rate information and other information to help consumers make informed financial decisions, the survey asks Americans what kind of investments made the most sense. The results showed that  27 percent of Americans said they'd invest in property if they had a pool of spare cash.

In years past, CDs and other cash investments were preferred over all else. In the new survey, those investments came in second at 23 percent. The remainder of respondents were divided as follows: 17 percent of survey respondents said they’d purchase stocks; 14 percent said gold and other precious metals; and 5 percent said bonds.

"We're not seeing the bunker mentality from individual investors to the same extent of the past few years," says Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate's chief financial analyst. "But the preference for real estate over, say, the stock market, does beg the question of whether or not Americans are again viewing residential housing as a golden ticket."

With the strength of the Austin economy and research projections that predict a steady increase in Austin real estate values for the next few years, it appears that Austin real estate will not only continue to attract home buyers who want to live in a great city, but also investors who are intent on making a sound financial investment. Considering the impending increase in finance rates at the end of the year, home buyers would be wise to choose to buy now to take advantage of such a popular investment.