I'd be tempted to put it into REITs. The main thing you want to avoid is having your investment move in the opposite direction to house prices. If the REIT goes down then it's likely that the house you were going to buy has also gone down in price.
Go ahead and compare charts of VTSAX (Total Stock) vs VBILX (Intermediate Bond) vs VGSLX (REITs) from 2000 through today. If you need the money in 5 years you don't want that much risk.
Also it's entirely possible that average real estate values will decline while the housing market in the area the poster is looking to buy goes up.
To defend REITs, yes REITs lost money in 2008 but but you could also buy property cheaper in 2008/2009.
If you're going to cherry pick data then take the case where property prices double in 2016. You would expect REITs to double too (not taking into account the rent that you'd be receiving in the mean time), and you'd still be able to buy your property in five years time.
The same can't be said for uncorrelated assets like bonds/CDs/etc. They suck in highly-inflationary environments.
Also thanks for assuming I was talking about leveraged products. I wasn't.