Just stumbled on a post from 2004 tonight. These figures are from NCB stockbrokers.
Real growth in values from 1976 to April 2004
Dublin Property * * * * 386% 5.81% per annum
National Property 255%* * * * 4.62%
Irish Equities 652%* * * * 7.47%
Note that it states REAL growth - add in inflation at say, 4%, then you're looking at 10% nominal terms for the last 30 years for dublin property- which as i pointed out in an earlier post it is the nominal returns that matter most with property not real terms.(assuming gearing)
Keep in mind the example I used earlier was only using 5% - had I used 10% - thereby also allowing more frequent remortgaging and reinvesting - then potential returns would have been far greater. Many multiples in fact.
As you can see equities have outperformed property - however,as discussed throughout this thread,I believe property to be the real winner due to leverage. You simply cannot borrow the same way with equities due to their volatile nature resulting in the investor requiring VERY large amounts of cash in reserve to cover margin calls - cash reserves that instead could have been used to leverage further had the money been used for property in the first place.
See full post here - it's from a few years ago started by Brendan.
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=8138&highlight=spreadbetting