New research by central London estate agency, Bective, looked at a range of lifestyle investment options from classic cars to bricks and mortar, art, coins and jewellery, to see which has proved the best when it comes to an alternative place to put your money during the pandemic.
According to the data, handbags and houses have been the best performing places to put your money when it comes to pandemic appreciation, showing a stronger annual increase than the likes of classic cars, art, and gold.
When it comes to long term returns, there has been no better investment over the last decade than classic cars. On average, their value has grown by a whopping 193% with luxury handbags (108%) and watches (89%) also proving some of the best ways to invest our money.
When it comes to house price appreciation, a bricks and mortar investment would have yielded a respectable 60% return over the last decade. However, property has proved the best pandemic investment where the annual return is concerned, second only to one other investment avenue.
In the last year, UK property prices have climbed 10.2%, a rate of growth beaten only by luxury handbags which once again ranked top of the table with an annual return of 17%.
Classic cars (6%), watches (5%) and luxury furniture (5%) have also proved profitable, but not every area of lifestyle investment has been as buoyant.
The worst place to have put your money during the pandemic based on annual growth has been art (-11%), gold (-5.5%), coloured diamonds (-1%), and coins (-1%), all of which have seen their value fall on an annual basis.
Craig Tonkin, Bective’s Head of Sales, commented: “The pandemic has certainly proved problematic but despite the ongoing uncertainty caused by Covid, there remain a number of profitable avenues of investment for those wishing to make their money work harder.
"Despite many predicting the demise of the UK property market at the start of 2020, we’ve seen a bricks and mortar boom push house prices to new highs, bringing strong returns for everyone from the average homeowner, right the way through to the major housing developer.
"While we look set to return to some sense of normality this year, the value of property is expected to climb further still and the property sector remains a key area of growth, providing one of the most consistent, accessible investment options there is for those looking to make a lifestyle investment.”
