Real Estate Returns

Abstract

This article compares and contrasts investments in residential, farmland, and commercial real estate. We also compare real estate investments to more traditional investments in stocks, bonds, commodities, and alternative assets. Price-change returns, rental returns, and total returns from 1991 through 2018 are the focus of the analysis. Including rent is important because rent makes up a significant part of the returns. We include empirically derived implicit net rent data from owner-occupied residences and owner-occupied farmland in the analysis.

TOPIC: Real estate

Key Findings

• • HIGH RETURNS. All three real estate categories did well. But farm real estate had the highest average returns, and the average farm price did not dip during the 2008–2009 subprime mortgage crisis.

• • RISKIEST. Commercial real estate was the riskiest category of real estate investment between 2003 and 2019. And it suffered the largest price dip during the subprime mortgage crisis.

• • RESOLVING UNCERTAINTY. Because real estate is relatively illiquid, it is difficult to measure the year to year returns precisely. However, our overall returns from rent and price changes are more informative.