Women Prefer Real Estate More Than Men As Investment

2009 December 5

A study, Barclays Wealth Insights: Prospects for Real Estate, showed that wealthy investors have a renewed appetite for real estate. When comes to real estate, a significantly greater proportion of women than men prefer investing in real estate.

The survey of more than 2,000 high net worth individuals, with assets ranging from $800,000 to in excess of $48 million. Respondents are based around the globe, with the highest numbers of respondents in the United States, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Canada, Spain, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Monaco. The survey took place between August and September 2009.

Women Favor Real Estate

According to the study, a greater percentage of women than men are keen on investing in real estate. When it comes to real estate, nearly half - 49% - the women surveyed say real estate is a less risky investment than stocks, whereas only 37% of men agree with that view.

Similarly, while 44% of women find buying real estate more enjoyable than investing in other asset classes, just 28% of men feel the same way.

Women also tend to favor investing directly in bricks and mortar more than men. While 34% of men are likely to invest in real estate indirectly through a fund, REIT or liquid investment in real estate, only 14% of women would prefer to go down that route.

Real Estate Wealth

“Real estate is a significant source and store of wealth for high net worth individuals around the world, a major destination for their capital and, in many cases, a source of huge pleasure and enjoyment. It is a long-term investment that offers the potential for income, capital gains and a hedge against inflation.”

Although the financial crisis that has led to a severe global economic downturn had many causes, real estate, in the shape of subprime mortgage loans, can be regarded as a key catalyst.

In the last decade, real estate attracted billions of dollars of investment as homeowners and investors around the world sought to capitalize on an intoxicating asset price boom and on the availability of cheap credit.

Although real estate has been a source of huge new wealth around the world, it has also proved to be many investors’ undoing. However, there is growing confidence about the outlook for real estate. About half expect an increase in the overall value of their real estate investments over the next two years, while 29% expect no change and 23% expect a decrease.

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