Real estate as an investment: price trends compared

Residential property prices in Europe and the US: official indices per country and metro area, returns and a comparison against the S&P 500, MSCI World…

How has residential property performed against stocks, gold and crypto? This page shows the real sale prices of 15 markets, the yearly return calculated from them, and how they performed next to the major asset classes. The figures are based on 2756 recorded sales from public auction archives.

Indices, not purchase prices. Official price indices track a typical property in each market, not the price of one specific house. The series are nominal, so they are not adjusted for inflation, and they exclude transaction costs, rental income, maintenance and financing — factors that shape the actual result more than the index itself. Every dot in the chart is a price someone actually paid at auction — not an estimate and not an asking price.

Real estate vs. the markets

Official residential property price indices against the S&P 500, MSCI World, Bitcoin and gold. All lines indexed to 100 as of 2024-07-11, logarithmic scale.

Period 2024-07-11 to 2026-03-31. Positions are picked by the number of recorded sales, not by return. Prices are hammer prices including the buyer's premium; seller's commission, taxes and holding costs are not deducted. All markets in detail

Data note 1

Price index for this asset class

No index is computed for this class, deliberately. These series already are official indices built with exactly this method. Computing it again would mean estimating an estimate.

Data note 2

Ranked by return per year

15 positions with at least 10 documented sales. Return p.a. from the first to the most recent period value; real = after inflation over the same period.

Positions by return per year
#Positionp.a.realYearsRecordsSales/yrGap
1Portugal · residential property+5.6 %+3.4 %18.073––
2Austria · residential property+5.3 %+3.1 %16.065––
3Los Angeles · metro area+5.3 %–39.4474––
4Sweden · residential property+5.0 %+2.8 %21.085––
5Poland · residential property+4.9 %+2.7 %16.065––
6Miami · metro area+4.9 %–39.4474––
7United States · residential property (Case-Shiller)+4.3 %–39.4474––
8New York · metro area+4.0 %–39.4474––
9Netherlands · residential property+3.6 %+1.4 %21.085––
10European Union · residential property+3.3 %+1.1 %21.085––
11Germany · residential property+2.9 %+0.8 %21.085––
12Euro area · residential property+2.8 %+0.7 %21.085––
13France · residential property+2.2 %+0.1 %21.085––
14Spain · residential property+2.2 %+0.1 %20.282––
15Italy · residential property+0.1 %-2.0 %16.065––

For context: the median across all 15 covered positions is +4.0 % p.a. “Gap” is the typical time between two sales — it tells you how long you may wait for a buyer. Returns are gross price changes: premium, commission, grading and storage costs are not deducted.

Data note 3

European Union · residential property

166.6 index level · 2026-03-31

85 data points85 quarters

1 year +5 %
3 years +13 %+4 % p. a.
since start +100 %+3 % p. a.

Official price index, 85 data points. Source: Eurostat.

Euro area · residential property

157.4 index level · 2026-03-31

85 data points85 quarters

1 year +5 %
3 years +10 %+3 % p. a.
since start +78 %+3 % p. a.

Official price index, 85 data points. Source: Eurostat.

Germany · residential property

153.4 index level · 2026-03-31

85 data points85 quarters

1 year +1 %
3 years -0 %-0 % p. a.
since start +82 %+3 % p. a.

Official price index, 85 data points. Source: Eurostat.

France · residential property

126.7 index level · 2026-03-31

85 data points85 quarters

1 year +0 %
3 years -4 %-1 % p. a.
since start +59 %+2 % p. a.

Official price index, 85 data points. Source: Eurostat.

Spain · residential property

194.1 index level · 2026-03-31

82 data points82 quarters

1 year +13 %
3 years +35 %+10 % p. a.
since start +57 %+2 % p. a.

Official price index, 82 data points. Source: Eurostat.

Italy · residential property

119.2 index level · 2026-03-31

65 data points65 quarters

1 year +5 %
3 years +12 %+4 % p. a.
since start +2 %+0 % p. a.

Official price index, 65 data points. Source: Eurostat.

Netherlands · residential property

221.1 index level · 2026-03-31

85 data points85 quarters

1 year +5 %
3 years +21 %+6 % p. a.
since start +111 %+4 % p. a.

Official price index, 85 data points. Source: Eurostat.

Austria · residential property

172.0 index level · 2026-03-31

65 data points65 quarters

1 year +4 %
3 years +5 %+2 % p. a.
since start +129 %+5 % p. a.

Official price index, 65 data points. Source: Eurostat.

Portugal · residential property

291.0 index level · 2026-03-31

73 data points73 quarters

1 year +18 %
3 years +47 %+14 % p. a.
since start +166 %+6 % p. a.

Official price index, 73 data points. Source: Eurostat.

Poland · residential property

225.9 index level · 2026-03-31

65 data points65 quarters

1 year +6 %
3 years +33 %+10 % p. a.
since start +116 %+5 % p. a.

Official price index, 65 data points. Source: Eurostat.

Sweden · residential property

136.8 index level · 2026-03-31

85 data points85 quarters

1 year +3 %
3 years +3 %+1 % p. a.
since start +176 %+5 % p. a.

Official price index, 85 data points. Source: Eurostat.

United States · residential property (Case-Shiller)

336.7 index level · 2026-06-01

474 data points474 months

1 year +2 %
3 years +9 %+3 % p. a.
since start +428 %+4 % p. a.

Official price index, 474 data points. Source: S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller (FRED).

New York · metro area

352.2 index level · 2026-06-01

474 data points474 months

1 year +5 %
3 years +23 %+7 % p. a.
since start +373 %+4 % p. a.

Official price index, 474 data points. Source: S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller (FRED).

Los Angeles · metro area

453.2 index level · 2026-06-01

474 data points474 months

1 year +1 %
3 years +10 %+3 % p. a.
since start +664 %+5 % p. a.

Official price index, 474 data points. Source: S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller (FRED).

Miami · metro area

452.0 index level · 2026-06-01

474 data points474 months

1 year +2 %
3 years +9 %+3 % p. a.
since start +560 %+5 % p. a.

Official price index, 474 data points. Source: S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller (FRED).

Data note 1