With money available to be spent who in their right mind wouldn’t buy a house instead of buying bitcoin?
House prices incredibly resilient
Property always goes up. Bricks and mortar is the best place to put your wealth. It’s as safe as houses.
All these adages have generally held true in the property market, and this is particularly true in the UK where house prices have been on the up for decades.
There are no doubt certain factors, unique to the UK, that have provided an upwards push in property prices that has generally outstripped the same market in other countries.
All of this in spite of the deepest recession since the 30s, and the impact that Covid had on the economy. House prices in the UK have risen rapidly since the 60s with only one real blip seen in the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009.
Property better investment than bitcoin?
So with all this history of price rises and a market that seems impervious to major economic shocks, surely it’s just safer to buy a house and sit on the investment for a decade or two?
In an article by the UK-based Property Reporter, it was shown how house prices had outperformed crypto in 2022. House prices went up 10.4% more than the previous year, while bitcoin dropped year-on-year 40.9%.
Alice Bullard, Managing Director at Nested, an estate agent, was quoted as saying:
“The UK property market has not only posted a strong and steady performance in recent years but has outperformed the two leading crypto coins on an annual basis, despite economic headwinds dampening the rate of house price growth seen towards the back end of 2022.”
No mention of what economic headwinds had done to the crypto market, how bitcoin has outperformed house prices massively over the last dozen or so years, nor how bitcoin has regular bull and bear cycles.
It could be argued that property is now massively overvalued and that the bubble has been forming for many, many years. Why invest in a house when crypto is bottoming after a long bear market?
Bitcoin provides options
But come on, houses are solid assets. Once you’ve bought one, and you are able to survive interest rate hikes that make the mortgage more and more difficult to pay, you own that asset, and it is something to your name.
But as economic turbulence becomes ever more painful to live with, people could be forced to adapt to sudden and powerful changes in employment, prices, and many other factors.
Having most of one’s wealth tied up in a 25 year mortgage may not be the best strategy. Bitcoin is completely outside of the financial system and cannot be controlled or taken away by governments.
By holding your wealth in a liquid asset such as bitcoin you are giving yourself the options of surviving economic collapse, of being able to custody your own wealth, and of being able to spend it how you like.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
