Shares versus property – what is your preferred investment at the moment?

Awww, no fair. Love ’em both. It’s like trying to pick which of my DebtKids is my “preferred child”.

But the question asks “at the moment”. (And given my kids ability to test tempers, one inevitably gains preferred status for short periods.)

It’s no different with shares and property. Like little boys and girls, they play up at different times. “When they were good, they were very, very good, but when they were bad, they were horrid.”

Shares scarred some people for life with their 55 per cent fall from November 2007 to March 2009. And, while they’ve been pretty good since, there have been several brief periods of recidivism.

They earn a gold star, however, for the last 20 months. Since May 2012, shares have trended upwards. Anyone scared into cash has (a) missed 35 per cent in growth and dividends, and (b) got rubbish returns while interest rates have gone to 50-year lows.

Residential property was moving to a different beat. Property briefly became collateral damage as the people panic sold over the world imploding during the GFC, before recovering.

Through 2011 and 2012, property hit the skids, gently falling roughly 10 per cent. Then this time last year, the market started to pick up …

Because of the nature of real estate, when property prices go for a trot, it tends to be a little more predictable and long running.

At this moment … so far this year, the ASX has been a little beaten up and property is in a canter.

I’m buying both.

Bruce Brammall is the author of Debt Man Walking (www.debtman.com.au) and principal adviser with Castellan Financial Consulting.