Stocks have endured bouts of turbulence this year. Even the usually steady Treasury market was recently hit with an unusual amount of volatility. It’s not surprising some Americans are ranking other asset classes ahead of equities and fixed income. Recent data from Gallup indicates that among the various asset classes, real estate is favored over stocks and bonds.
That could prove to be good news for ETFs like the ALPS REIT Dividend Dogs ETF (RDOG ). It makes sense because directly owning one, let alone multiple properties, is difficult for many investors. But they know the value of real estate.
“The 37% of U.S. adults viewing real estate as the best investment is virtually unchanged from last year’s [reading. The] 16% choosing stocks is down six percentage points, erasing its 2024 gain,” according to Gallup.
Real Estate Challenging Gold
Investors’ current levels of affinity for real estate are comparable to those displayed toward gold. That’s saying something. because spot gold and many of the corresponding ETFs have steadily notched record highs since the start of the year.
“After trailing gold in 2011 and 2012, real estate essentially tied with gold and stocks as the top long-term investment in 2013. Real estate has ranked as the top investment for Americans each year since 2014, with between 30% and 45% selecting it,” added Gallup.
There are some other points that could work in favor of RDOG, which follows the S-Network REIT Dividend Dogs Index. Gallup points out that 62% of U.S. adults own stocks. That indicates they’d likely be comfortable with owning or already do own shares of individual real estate companies or ETFs like RDOG.
Second, there’s a high level of demographic diversification among investors who currently rank real estate high on their lists. Said another way, it’s not solely the territory of the most affluent market participants. And that broad appeal could drive increased interest funds like RDOG.
“Americans at all income levels choose real estate as the top long-term investment, with similar shares of lower-, middle- and higher-income Americans naming it,” observed Gallup.
RDOG is highly diverse relative to cap-weighted real estate ETFs. That’s because the ALPS fund “provides equal exposure to the five highest yielding US REITs within nine equally-weighted REIT segments,” according to the issuer.
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