Article content

According to data from the TD Bank, housing prices in Canada from 1980 to 2012 increased at an annual rate of 5.4 per cent, Toronto and Vancouver a full point higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average calculates its average annual return for the same time period was 8.9 per cent.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Bruce Yaccato: You’d have to be crazy to buy real estate Back to video

The Toronto Real Estate Board says the average price of a house in 2014 was $566,726, an 8.4 per cent increase from 2013. It adds that “we should not expect current price increases to continue.”

TD concurs, forecasting that over the next couple of decades, real estate should grow three per cent annually, while stocks will grow seven per cent.

What should you invest in?

Duh.

THE END

That should be enough, but come to think of it, 10 lines of common sense arithmetic is not likely to come close to dispelling the most indestructible urban myth of all time.