Why shares are the new bricks and mortar (opens the source in a new tab)
- Households are now building more wealth from shares than from property: in 2025, 57% of new household wealth came from stocks and 15% from housing, reversing the past 25 years, the McKinsey Global Institute estimates.
- In America stocks recently overtook property as a share of household wealth for the first time since the second world war, Goldman Sachs calculates, and young people priced out of homes are investing instead.
- Slower house-price growth, booming equity markets and governments trimming tax breaks for property are all speeding the shift.
- 57%
- of 2025’s new wealth from stocks
- 15%
- from property
Why it matters For renters, especially the young, investing becomes a real path to wealth rather than a consolation prize for missing the housing ladder.
Other side Shares can crash faster than houses, and a home also gives shelter and a forced savings habit that a brokerage account doesn’t.