This directly contradicts the article, so please cite your sources.
Pages 3-4 specifically, but the whole paper is excellent. RE has returns that are reasonably (imho) similar to securities over the long term, low volatility, and you need to live somewhere (although you might see greater returns in the capital markets depending on your entry/exit points [1] and risk tolerance).
I’d caution that recent equities returns are very likely an outlier, part central bank easing, part yield chasing, part unsophisticated money, and arguably unsustainable.
[1] http://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/...
> Housing market returns are very bad. Between 1948 and 2004 the real increase in value in the U.S real estate market was less than 1% a year.
Perhaps you or someone else can point to the source of the discrepancy?