If you had the choice of investing in a company or buying real estate? Which one would you pick? For most Kiwis, it’s the latter, with the property comprising 57% of our assets*. Strong house price growth and low-interest rates have fueled recent growth, however, Kiwis have had a love affair with property for decades.
It helps that real estate is easy to understand. You buy a home, take out a mortgage and pay/earn rent. Plus, you are likely to benefit from capital gains. Shares on the other hand can be very complex. In many ways you could say you are buying into a single CEO given the impact they can have on the share price, but how much time do you spend researching the CEO?
