Research by property developer Stripe Property Group, has revealed that thanks to the pandemic property market boom, bricks and mortar ranks as one of the four best investments when it comes to the return seen over the last year, with just gold, designer handbags and fine wines seeing a larger return.

Stripe Property Group analysed the returns seen across 12 investable assets in the last year, to reveal where your money has been best placed in the current climate.

It’s been a bumper year for the UK property market and with the housing market booming throughout much of the pandemic, the average UK homeowner has seen a gain in capital to the tune of 9.3% in the last year alone.

This places bricks and mortar fourth in the list of best investments, beating rare whisky, rare coins, designer handbags, classic cars, jewellery, antique furniture and gold. In fact, gold is the only investment class to have seen a decrease, down -1% annually.

Just fine wines (16%), designer watches (16%) and fine art (13%) have yielded a greater return when it comes to the increase in value during 2021.

However, the London market hasn’t benefited to the same degree as the wider UK and, with London property values up by just 4.2% annually. Despite this, the capital’s housing market has still proved a better investment than classic cars, jewellery, antique furniture and gold.

Managing Director of Stripe Property Group, James Forrester, commented:

“The property market has boomed during the pandemic and continues to do so in 2022. As a result, you’ll struggle to have made a better investment in the last year or two.

While there are a select few investment options that have yielded a larger return, the actual increase in value is likely to have been far lower than the level of capital appreciation seen across the average UK home.

Property also remains accessible to the masses and those without specialist knowledge or connections within an area such as fine wine or art. Not only is it the most straightforward investment you can make, it’s also one of the safest, as the property market isn’t susceptible to the same erratic, boom and bust nature of other investment options.”