Real estate is the favoured investment vehicle, according to a recent study, beating out many other popular options.

Real estate is king, according to a poll by Bankrate.com, with 28% of respondents in its latest Financial Security Index poll saying it’s the best choice to invest money for 10 years or more.

“If you have a long time horizon, you will win in real estate,” Abhi Golhar, a real estate investor who owns and rents out single-family homes, said in the report.

Real estate investing beat out cash (23%) by a slight margin and the stock market (17%), gold (15%) and bonds (4%) by more significant margins.

It should be noted that the results are based on American investors; however, considering how many real estate investors and home owners south of the border were burned in the wake of 2008’s recession, the results are very significant.

They certainly point to long-term positive sentiment about investing in real estate.

Still, real estate investment does have its detractors.

“One study by professors at the London Business School found that housing returned only 1.3 percent per year after inflation from 1900 to 2011, while stocks tended to perform more than four times better,” Bankrate said of the study. “Homes are costly to maintain and can be difficult to sell in both good markets and bad. During a downturn, there can be so few available buyers that your ability to ask for a higher price is diminished.”

It wouldn’t be a huge leap to assume a poll in Canada would yield similar results — especially considering how much home owners and investors in major markets have built up in home equity over the past decade.

Poll Results : The Best Way to Invest Money Mid-Long-Term by Canadian Real Estaet Wealth