The middle class people I know who invested in real estate (say, buying one flat to rent it out) would counter your argument with the following two points (not implying that I'm in favor of investing in real estate):

1 - It does not imply that much work. Not even close. For instance, my uncle and aunt rented a flat for 6 years to the same family, and in that time my uncle had to go there about 1-2 times for minor problems, and I don't think it's an exception. There is a bit of work at the time of finding new tenants, but in the case of the people I know, it's like an average of 4 hours of work a year at the very, very most.

2 - (and most importantly): middle class people who invest in real estate are keen on having a rent. Stocks don't necessarily give you that. They see buying a house and renting it out as a way of having a monthly recurrent source of income.